Video from Ben about his new personal speed record with the Racing Blade 2011
Never ceases to amaze me seeing just how fast these guys go. Reminds me of that video of Slowboat hitting 50 knots at SP where someone's board flies through the air just after he passes them sitting on the waters edge.
PS - never got to see any footage of Spotty's et al runs from last year. I recall talk about it being videoed - was it ever posted?
Could make for a great thread with videos of any runs over 45knots.
I heard Pete Volwater was going faster than Ben that day until he had to leave to catch a plane, and the conditions got even better. Looks like a great place for speedsailing.
Actually the video shows the run-up and doesn't show the topspeed as one needs to bear off into the chop to get the high speeds in when the wind comes from the right direction. It's at "het Kuitje" which is an extremely gusty spot, because we can only sail it with wind from S-SSW and the wind needs to ome over a high wall and is disturbed by the land. It's a curved spot and therefore good for extremely high peaks, but I don't think it will be a threat for SP when looking at ten second runs, which is a shame actually, as it will probably force us to come over to Australia 
(if one could call coming to Australia a shame...). That doesn't mean we will stop looking though....
By the way, anyone fancying a trip to Holland is always welcome to drop me an e-mail and I will show you our best spots.
www.google.com:443/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=nl&geocode&q=het+kuitje&sll=33.137551,-22.412109&sspn=36.342298,86.396484&ie=UTF8&hq=het+kuitje&hnear&ll=52.930223,4.799652&spn=0.012262,0.042186&t=h&z=15&iwloc=C
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I'm with you mineral, unless the the two sailors are on the same gust running down the course at the same time you cannot tell. But awesome speeds.
I think 5x10 is the best measure of performance on a day. Sometimes it really is a lot of luck to time the squalls correctly. The fastest run is a nice glory category but it doesnt separate a one-off lucky gust from the rest of the day. My 2sec/10sec PB was a very lucky gust- there was even a video camera on the beach to capture it 
In ISWC competitions the "lucky gust" factor comes into it a lot for a result in a round, since they only count the best 2 runs for each round, but this becomes less of an issue once you get 5 or more rounds in. In Karpathos, its common for there to be only one or two solid gusts to come through in a round, and only a handful of people will be in the right place in the queue to nab it. That makes a huge difference to the results. I suggested to the pres that they should increase the number of runs averaged per round to 5.
My comment earlier on Benny's big day was that from the indications of speeds being done "at the same time" => similar conditions, Ben ~might~ have had some competition overall had Pete not had a plane to catch :)
Maybe a better way to measure performance is to discard the best 2 runs and cound the 3rd to 7th best times. That would kill off the lucky gust factor entirely.
Agree with 5x10 but think the lucky gust is the tactical element of the sport. Remember a few years back on my first visit to the pit being stuck at the wrong end of the run during every 'lucky' gust while all the old hands came flying down the run to ace the day. Have now learnt to look out for the big dark clouds and try and time the run to get the max wind I can hold with gear that I'm on. This often means staying still for 10 minutes which is a bit couter intuitive if you're having lots of fun sailing. Down at the Pit on a good day I reckon there are probably 2 to 3 clouds / gusts during the best tide and if you can get them it is awesome. However, if you have to queue up like Karpathos then I reckon that removes this tactical skill...
The only way that i see to eliminate the "lucky gust" is doing the distance depending on your course where you sail , is it a 250 or 500 or the famous NM !!!!
And dont forget there is no 1 lucky gust there are many of them that will come through , you just have to be there...
I have never sat on a good strong continous gust to crack a 500m run which then i have to adjust and squeeze to get the best run i can to get a decent result.
Its a pity alot of people depend on 2 sec runs instead of trying to make themselves to go quicker over a certain distance which at the end makes you a better sailor and more consistant and thats what speed is all about!!!!
Even the 5 by 10sec can have a few lucky gusts but then again it will even it all out.
It is still better than a 2sec run for me that has no meaning to it , yeah its good to brag on the forum if you got a good 2 sec run but that does not determine how fast you really went over a good 250 or 500m.
For me a 2 sec is only good to compare on that run how far i am off a 250 or 500m run and the closer the numbers are the better i am preforming!!!!
As for the sail debute for me all race sails will go fast off the wind if properly rigged and tunned - combining board , fin and SAILOR!!!! And that has been proven....
