Lüderitz Speed Challenge: But no world record for Albeau - Dunkerbeck struggles with the water level
SURF Redaktion
· 28.11.2024
As announced, yesterday was the day everyone had been waiting for: 50 knots and more on the Lüderitz speed channel, from an almost perfect direction. Antoine Albeau was "on fire" and put in six runs with more than 52 knots. In the afternoon it looked like a sensation: With 53.38 knots, he broke his own world record from 2015 (53.27 knots). However, over the course of the night, the value was corrected downwards based on the video measurements: "A sad moment, but after verifying the recordings, the 58.38 knots became only 52.98 knots," wrote Albeau on Instagram
Albeau had caught the best time for his run, including a gust and still reasonably flat water. Later on, it became increasingly choppy on the canal. "It was good, but very choppy, especially at the end," he reported. "We have problems starting because it's very gusty in the start box. Sometimes we have to wait quite a long time." In order to get away well, Albeau drove his 5.7 with a standard speedboard from JP-Australia most of the time. "I also tested my custom gun once, but switched back," says the 52-year-old.
Wind pushes the water out of the start box
Björn Dunkerbeck, who had only raced four races yesterday, also told surf about problems in the start area: "Everything was tiptop at lunchtime, I got up to just under 100 km/h with my well run-in 5.5, without any additional weights. When the wind finally picked up, it pushed the water out of the start zone," describes Björn. "I touched down every time, hit five fins and couldn't do another lap. The saddest thing for me is that the low water level in the start area meant I couldn't use my speed like I wanted to when the wind was finally strong enough."
Jenna Gibson breaks her own record
Jenna Gibson's new record from yesterday, however, stood: The Brit set her own record again early on and sailed even faster than before at 47.53 knots! This value remained unchanged in the rankings overnight. Her partner Simon Pettifer and Thomas Moldenhauer both set their own personal records - Pettifer got a bloody nose during his run, but was still a "happy boy", as he emphasised with a broad grin.
Things also went well for Gunnar Asmussen, who sailed the second-best speed of 52.03 knots. He was even better in terms of top speed, but obviously had problems maintaining his speed over 500 metres.
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Youngster Brendan Lorho from France put in a sensational performance: despite being in a completely different class to Albeau and co. in terms of weight, the 19-year-old sailed to third place with 49.86 knots. "It was nice and windy today, I'm happy that I was out at the best time," said Brendan. "I was close to 50 knots. If not today, then hopefully I'll break it in the next few days."
More about the Lüderitz Speed Challenge 2024:
