World Sailing Speed ​​Record Council

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Zara Davis during one of her record attempts in Lüderitz, Namibia
The Groupama 3, which was measured in June 2007 at an average speed of 27 knots (currently 5th in the confirmed course records) on the route from Miami to New York

The World Sailing Speed ​​Record Council ( WSSRC ) is the body that confirms sailing records on water by boats, catamarans , trimarans , with windsurfing or kitesurfing (not on ice and not on land).

The WSSRC was founded in 1972 by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF, previously International Yacht Racing Union, IYRU, since 2015 World Sailing - A Sport for Life ). It was initially limited to only dealing with course records for 500 meters in one direction. On the other hand, it has also been responsible for offshore sailing records since 1988.

A permanent secretariat has been established in the WSSRC since 2001. Members of the Expert Council come from Australia, France, Great Britain and the United States and meet once or twice a year. The record holders and their times are listed for records that conform to the rules of the WSSRC. In addition, the WSSRC also issues certificates for sailors who - even without breaking a record - want to officially have the time measured on a set route.

History and current records

The first 500 m record was set in 1972 by Timothy Colman , a newspaper publisher, with 26.3 knots with his Crossbow , 60 feet long and in the construction of a Proa . Portland Harbor had been determined to be the best measurement route and because of its layout, 500 meters was specified as the distance to be sailed. Colman held the lead for six years, scoring 36 knots on the Crossbow 2, while his closest rival, the hydrofoil Icarus , scored just 28.15 knots. The competition could have degenerated into a material battle for wealthy yacht owners had it not been for windsurfers (and later kite surfers): In 1986 Pascal Maka ended the Crossbow era at a speed of 38.86 knots, no longer in Portland, but in Sotavento, Spain .

Charlotte Consorti (* 1978), three-time world speed champion on the kite

A dramatic increase enthusiast achieved in France, which the Mistral took advantage and before 2008 Saintes Maries de la Mer in the so-called French Trench rates obtained from a fraction under 50 knots before from such exotic places as the wind tunnel at Luderitz in Namibia was replaced , where windsurfers, kitesurfers and sailors repeatedly chased the record. Since 2007, Lüderitz has held the Lüderitz Speed ​​Challenge, one of the most important international kite and windsurf competitions, every year. The kite surfers were the first to break the 50-knot mark in 2008, Sebastien Cattelan (France), Rob Douglas (USA) and Alexandre Caizergues (also France) reached speeds above this in Lüderitz in 2008-2010, while Alain Thebault (France) with his in 2009 Hydroptère briefly brought back the sailing yacht record at 51.37 knots in Hyères . The Vestas Sailrocket 2 with Paul Larsen (Australia) then set the bar three times in a row in 2012 with first 59.23 knots, then 59.37 knots and the currently unbeaten 65.45 knots again significantly. The fastest woman at the moment is also the first to surpass the 50 knot mark for women: kite surfer Charlotte Consorti (France) with 50.43 knots in Lüderitz.

German records

In July 1995 Jochen Krauth achieved 41.90 knots on Fuerteventura. The other national records of the Germans were all measured in Lüderitz: first Dirk Hanel in October 2007 with 42.44 knots. Wolfram Reiners moved significantly closer to the 50-knot mark in October 2011 with 46.26 knots, Christian Bornemann in November 2012 with 46.75 knots and Jochen Bock with 49.36 knots. It was finally exceeded in October 2015 by Christian Bornemann with 50.20 knots.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. List of WSSRC rules on offshore sailing records
  2. Yacht.de - Website: Fable world records for Sailrocket 2. On: www.yacht.de , November 19, 2012, accessed on June 4, 2017 .
  3. A Short History Of Timing, Compendium for the 40th Anniversary of the WSSRC
  4. Record list of the 500 m course
  5. Record list of national speed record holders