Speed surfing: "Speed is like ski jumping" - Interview with Gunnar Asmussen
Manuel Vogel
· 23.02.2025
Gunnar, you improved your German record in Lüderitz. So did you achieve your goal? Or did you have even bigger goals?
I already had the German record. Of course it's nice to have improved it further. Of course I had the world record in mind. Even if it didn't work out, I'm satisfied because I could see that I was able to keep up with Antoine Albeau on many days. I was able to win many of the daily rankings. We had two days during the four-week event phase that made records possible. On the first, I made a mistake with my choice of sail and was a little underpowered. And before the second, I caught a bad cold. I'm not making excuses, but there was always just that little bit missing. Somehow I have the feeling that I still have a score to settle with Lüderitz every time after the end of the challenge (laughs).
In the end, Antoine Albeau further improved his own world record. Where did he take the decisive centimetres from you?
I can actually see that quite clearly from the GPS data: I lost right at the start, where you turn round the bend with the "Slingshot" and the timing starts. This is the most physically demanding moment of the entire run. What Antoine is also exceptionally good at is being at 100 per cent straight away, he is extremely consistent. On a day with record conditions, you often only have one hour where everything really fits and records are possible. Antoine can then deliver immediately, I often need a bit more time to get into the groove. I also did my best run when the wind had died down a bit.
Let's talk briefly about the start: What makes the slingshot before the start of the timing so particularly challenging?
You set off on a half-wind, sometimes even slightly closehauled course, and the entire equipment setup is of course optimised for a downwind course - so you can't pull fully close-hauled here yet. At the end of the start box, you drop off and suddenly get the full power of 45 knots of wind in the sail. Converting this into acceleration and speed demands everything from you. Afterwards I could see that in the first part of the course I usually lacked a knot of speed compared to Antoine. Antoine usually reached his top speed in the first part or in the middle of the course, whereas I tended to reach it in the second part just before the end.
Keyword "equipment": What did you have in your equipment contingent for Lüderitz?
I had two older boards from 2018 and 20219, which I still had in Cape Town from last year, plus two prototypes and M8 series sails from Severne.
It sounds as if no major leaps in development are possible with speed material.
Of course there are good and bad speedboards. Last year, I simply picked my two favourites from a pool of six or seven boards. These have proven themselves and simply work well for me.
Antoine Albeau and you were the two most prominent names on the starting list for the Lüderitz Speed Challenge. Some top riders like Vincent Valkenaers or Hans Kreisel were missing. Do you know why?
I suspect that some did not have absolute confidence that the channel would be really good. In previous years we've sometimes had stronger winds than this time, but the angle was often too much downwind. This means that there is 3o centimetres of chop on the channel, which blows your seals out. This time the wind was a bit lighter, but the angle was often better. What's more, the wind was mostly quite constant. There are days when you have 50 to knot gusts, but only 30 knots in the wind holes - it's hard to get a good run. I would say the conditions were pretty good this year. I was well prepared and fit and felt pretty confident on the channel this year.
Speed surfing is like ski jumping. You have to have a bit of luck with the perfect gust
How many runs did you do on the good days?
On the first good day, it was actually non-stop. You blast down, let the shuttle take you up and then do the next one straight away. It must have been around 25 runs. On the second record day it was less because I wasn't fit - maybe ten runs.
You improved the German record to 52.69 knots (97.58 km/h). Can you tell straight away on the water if it was a good run? Or is the subjective feeling sometimes deceptive?
It depends - of course you notice when you have full pressure in the sail over the entire distance and don't have to bridge any wind holes. That's the most important thing. But sometimes it's deceptive - for example when the wind has shifted a little or it's choppy on the canal. Then it sometimes feels incredibly fast and afterwards you look at the GPS and it was nothing.
What is your plan for the future? Will you attack again in 2025?
I'll be back in 2025 because I believe that if you want to break the world record, you simply have to be there all the time. Otherwise it makes no sense!
Gunnar, thank you for the interview and good luck for your continued record hunt!
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