Yachting-Live

The Man Who Made 49.09 Knots
Double world champion in 2006, triple world champion in 2007, Antoine Albeau wrote himself into the history books on March 5th 2008 by setting a new world record for sail speed. With his 49.09 knots, the big Frenchie has set the bar very high indeed and establishes himself as the men closest to that 50 knot mark, and very much the man to beat. Here’s the WJ interview with a champion in every sense of the word !

Windsurfjournal.com : The record is still fresh in your mind, how do you feel now about that mad day ?

Antoine Albeau : Before I got the record, I really didn’t think it would be possible to hit those speeds, I’d had a good look at the forecast and I wasn’t expecting so much wind. But now that it’s been done I think it was incredible the number of falls I had.

WJ : And yet you arrived in less than tip-top condition…

A2 : The time difference is nothing really, it’s the hours of traveling that are irritating, I got back to Paris the day before at 9.00am, I had to get to my house on the west coast and down to the canal on the south coast and do it all in less than 12 hours. I got there at half past midnight and got up at 6.00am to rig my equipment, that was the hardest part !!! It was very cold and I wasn’t sure where I was any more. I made my first run at 8.30, and my last at 6.30 in the evening, ten hours in a wetsuit !!!

WJ : So what was the rig you used for the record run ?

A2 : For the board, it was a Starboard 37cm custom, with a NeilPryde RS :Racing 4.8 m2 sail that, with Robert Stroj, we’d just made to fit between 4.6 and the 5.0. I think that to hit those kind of speeds you need the perfect combination, that’s exactly why we built this sail. The fin was a custom Deboichet made specially for the canal.

WJ : This puts you now in the position of “defender” of the water sail speed record. Do you think you’ll be concentrating more on speed now to try and improve on that record speed ?

A2 : I did exactly what I’d hoped to do, firstly to beat the French record, then the world record. Now, thinking about 50 knots, that’s another story, it’s going to be really hard. It’ll need a bit of luck to have the ideal conditions, but if the conditions are there we’ll se what can be done. Personally, I didn’t really think the world record would be so important, but now I’m completely stoked to have done it.

Interview by www.windsurfjournal.com

More on www.speedworldcup.com/interviews/interview-the-man-who-made-49.09-knots.html

* Philip Adamidis set a new Greek record at the fourth Driven by Wind session. The speed of 42.81 knots is subject to WSSRC ratification.

* On March 5th 2007, Dream Team rider Antoine Albeau takes a Starboard-built custom board to break the record and set a new benchmark in the world of wind-powered sports.

For 2009, Starboard will introduce a collection of three new iSonic Speed Specials, exact replicas of the boards Antoine used to take home the World Speed Champion title. Designed by Christophe Fiorentini, these three speed boards are simply some of the fastest boards in the World. Christophe Fiorentini: “I have been working actively on the shape of these 3 speed boards since 2005. In the course of events I have improved the design of each of these boards. To define the ideal characteristics, we tested boards in the South of France (a spot with very irregular winds and with both flat and choppy water conditions) but also in Fuerteventura (150 degree angle with light wind) and in Namibia (square conditions with 100 degree angle). Under your feet, the boards accelerate with a great feeling of ease. The boards have a neutral trim so that wind lulls and gusts can be coped with effortlessly and with maximum efficiency. The great special feature of these boards is that they keep ! the speed generated by a gust of wind for a very long time. The double concave is tailored individually on each model to blend acceleration on flat water and comfort”

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 7:55 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.