Speed surfing: Antoine Albeau, Jenna Gibson and William Huppert win Speed World Championships in La Palme

After the windy start last week there were good conditions again at the end of the Speed World Championships in La Palme. The event had previously moved to the inland lake for some foil runs because the wind temporarily came onshore. On Monday and Tuesday, the Tramontana then conjured up an almost mirror-smooth speed course on the Mediterranean again, so that more top speeds were on the clock. Antoine Albeau was not only the fastest at 43.53 knots, but also took the win on points ahead of Vincent Valkenaers. Youngster Brendan Lorho, who had already beaten many speed oldies at the Lüderitz Speed Challenge, just missed the 43 mark with 42.96 knots and ended up in third place. Hans Kreisel, who was still in the lead after the first heat, came fourth.

"It was a great day," enthused the new world champion Albeau after the finish. "Sunny, windy, flat water, very nice!" Some PWA racers, including Matteo Iachino, Cedric Bordes and Bruno Martini, travelled straight to La Palme after the event in Guadeloupe to take part in the World Championship. While Iachino and Bordes finished in the top ten with sixth and ninth place, Bruno Martini only finished 31st at his first speed event in La Palme, but caused a stir with a spectacular crash.

William Huppert: Not the fastest, but the most consistent on the foil

In the women's event, there was no way around world record holder Jenna Gibson, who clocked 39.05 knots, leaving a respectable gap to her predecessor Heidi Ulrich from Switzerland (37.83 knots). Blanca Alabau, who also travelled directly from Guadeloupe to La Palme, achieved 33.45 knots.

On the foil, however, the Spaniard was faster than Gibson (31.06 vs. 28.87 knots). There was only one Open Class, which William Huppert won. Although the Frenchman was not the fastest, he won most of the heats and became world champion thanks to his consistency. Matteo Iachino, Cedric Bordes, Cyril Evrard and Antoine Albeau may have had the better top speeds, but in the end they were at a disadvantage in terms of points.

More about speed surfing:

• Jenna Gibson on the Lüderitz Speed Challenge and her world record
• "Speed is like ski jumping" - Interview with Gunnar Asmussen
• The best tips for speed windsurfing from Andy Laufer
• These are the speed records in windsurfing

"I'm very happy, it was a great event," said Huppert afterwards. "It was very close with the PWA event in Guadeloupe, I was here a bit late and missed the first heat, but then we had a few good days, first on the lake and then here on the open sea!"

Andy Laufer and Thorsten Luig finished the Speed World Championships in 12th and 13th place, other German starters were Klaus Küppenbender in 20th place, Christian Bornemann (27th), Thomas Moldenhauer (40th) and Björn Haacke (42nd).

Results of the 2025 Speed World Championship in La Palme

Men's windsurfing

1. Antoine Albeau
2. Vincent Valkenaers
3. Brendan Lorho
4. Hans Kreisel
5. Martim Monteiro
6. Matteo Iachino
7. Jacques van der Hout
8. Rolf de Ruiter
9. Cedric Bordes
10. Nicolas Warembourg

Ladies windsurfing

1. Jenna Gibson
2. Heidi Ulrich
3. Blanca Alabau
4. Isabelle Westerveld

Junior Windsurfing

1. Brendan Lorho
2. Franek Debowski
3. Gaspar Evelio Schwarzenlander
4. Isabelle Westerveld

Foil

1. William Huppert
2. Antoine Albeau
3. Cyril Evrard
4. Cedric Bordes
5. Matteo Iachino
6. Nicolas Warembourg
7. Theo di Lello
8. Sebastien Bourgeois
9. Brendan Lorho
10. Michael George

All results of the Speed World Championship 2025