Luderitz--Speed Challenge 2014

First day of challenge today and only speeds of 45kts in 30kt breeze.
Tomorrow expecting 45kt winds, should be some records fall.

Any Aussies to follow this year?

Loving the real time checking on Facebook... like two years ago. I reckon there might be a record tonight. Hoping it's my (sort of) namesake Patrik.

Yes Macro a live feed would be nice but we cant have it all. I see your doing some nice numbers, i look forward to sailing with you when i get back.

P Diethelm : 51,09 on 500m
Getting there !!

Jacques van der Hout50.52 [PB]
This guy is amazing . Looks like is going 50 knots one way, quick gybe at the end and going back same speed in this thin channel.
Result - alpha >30 knots

sailquik you have been to luderitz how would you rate the experience, would you say its a must do and what goals would you recommend completing before sending yourself down that channel. Considering i haven't done 40knt let alone the average numbers the channel produces.

Select to expand quote

Lessacher said..
Franz Grabner is from AUSTRIA ÖSTERREICH: Mondsee, Salzburger Land.Yesterday made he 48 Knots topspeed. He have broken the 20 years old record from Mike Pucher. With a fin from me. B+F Rake 30° at the base 13cm wide and 7,5mm thin. Very sharp. Wolfgang.

fantastic Wolfgang what was the depth of your fin and was it asymmetrical , I believe some of the riders are using one sided foiled fins

The fin from Franz was 22cm, the biggest,i worked asymm.and normal. 22 20 and 18cm. Wolfgang

Select to expand quote

Jas71 said..
sailquik you have been to luderitz how would you rate the experience, would you say its a must do and what goals would you recommend completing before sending yourself down that channel. Considering i haven't done 40knt let alone the average numbers the channel produces.

Hmmm, that's a good question.

For me it was the logical next step to see if I could go faster than I have at Sandy Point. Interestingly, I only went a very small amount faster in top speed and 10sec. But I manged to improve my 500m and 5x10 sec a lot.

I recon that on the right day at Sandy Point, one can go very fast indeed. It's just that the window for those days is small, with tide, wind strength and direction all having to come together. Even though I live here, it still only presents a few ideal opportunities to push PB's a year, and that's in a good year! (Although we get dozens of 40+ days most years! )

Luderitz offers the opportunity to have a number of PB days in the time frame of a couple of weeks. And on those days you will probably get the chance to do at least 5 or 6 runs. Hence my 5x10 sec PB, even though last year we really only had 1 or 2 top days.

The downside of Luderitz is that it is a big learning curve and very daunting the first few times you launch down it in 40 kt plus winds. We had the windiest day (35-55kts) as our second day and even after running the canal in 30-40 knots winds the day before, I think we were all a bit spooked that day and didn't reach our full potential. If we had got a day like that again a week later, I think all us Aussie's could have done significantly better speeds, just from having more experience, being tuned in and more confident. Most of the guys who had been there before got on the pace quicker than we did and some bettered their previous speeds, despite the canal not being as good as the year before.

I would recommend you have had some experience in sailing deep in very strong winds before thinking about a Luderitz trip. The winds there are also a lot more volatile than at Sandy Point. The gust range is much larger and the flow nowhere near as laminar into the lower sail. You need to have some experience with sub 44cm speed boards and getting them going in less than ideal conditions. It helps if you can get some experience (safely) carrying substantial weight (5kg+) in your vest and water starting a speed board in that situation. Most of all, you want to be familiar with, and solid on your equipment. By that I mean able to make good recoveries and avoid crashes if at all possible.

Alternatively, if you are content to not run the wildest days at Luderitz, you could get a lot of runs earlier in the day before the wind really kicks and on the moderate wind days. If there is enough wind to start and run the course (around 25-30 knots), you are most likely to go at least low 40's. Nobody says you have to launch yourself into a 50 kt gust. That's up to you.

Sandy Point is still a good training ground for the Luderitz canal. If you are willing to be there in the right days, you can really test yourself in very strong winds and find how to tune and ride the gear. You can get experience hammering through the following chop which is not much different from the canal, (contrary to popular belief, nether Sandy Point or Luderitz is 'flat' water in PB conditions) with the consequences of losing control a lot less severe. You can also get used to running a meter or two from the bank (but not with another bank 2 meters downwind! )

There would be many different paths to Luderitz, but some of them would include wild days at Sandy and fast speed experience at any of the proven high speed (40+) spots around the country, especially in 30 knots plus winds. Those paths would already have you past 40 knots anyhow.

I guess one of the really important requirements is that you really have to want it! By that I mean you have to be at least slightly obsessive with seeing what you can do and finding out your limits. It is a very personal thing. There is always going to be some one faster or better than oneself. For me it's all about finding out what I can do and what I have within; where my personal limits are.

As for the experience? Fantastic!! One of the great adventures of my life. And I've had a few!

Traveling through such a fascinating land. Sharing it all with great mates. Meeting some of the nicest and most interesting people ever and making many new friends. Watching, talking with and learning from the very best speed-sailors in the world and engaging in great camaraderie with so many like minded adventurers. I would not have missed it for anything, and I would be back there right now if I had the financial means. Be assured, I have my sights set firmly on a return trip if at all possible some time in the near future!

Select to expand quote

Jas71 said..
Thanks for the insight into Luderitz it sounds like an awesome adventure. Foe me getting to sail in 30knt+ is like winning lotto as work has me somewhere other that Aust. I am a long way from where i'd need to be to sail there, but i knew that already.

I just saw this on Lena Erdil's Facebook page. Some insight into what a big day is like from someone with exceptional skills and experience, albeit, not so much ballast!

"Lena Erdil

SOO finally my update after 2 days of sailing! I'm completely shattered, yesterday was the most intense day of sailing in my life I think. The wind was gusting 50knots and the sand was blowing over the canal like crazy! When I slingshot round the corner I could almost not see the canal, there was soo much sand blowing and the water in the canal looked so shallow, getting shallower by the minute from all the sand blowing in, it was pretty scarry! Having only a 5.1 to deal with yesterday was a real test of strength, mindpower and commitment. For the first time in 3 years I had to abandon one of my runs half way through the canal because i simply couldn't control my kit properly anymore. I managed to do a run of 42 knots, but really wasn't feeling good enough to go faster, the conditions were extremely hardcore as on top of it all it was soo gusty and it was hard to see the gusts hitting the canal because of all the sand flying around. With La Torche strating on the 18th i haven't got much time left here, i'm scheduled to fly out on the 15th, but the forecast is showing 35 knots again which means 50knots solid, I doubt there will be flights leaving luderitz town with that kind of wind and i'm tempted to try and stay one more day to give it one more shot before i have to leave... Hope I can work out some logistic solutions to stay another day and make it to La Torche in time."

Read the last few lines again!. I just love this girls attitude!

I bet he had the afternoon off. not fun

He touched with the fin the buttom. Wolfgang

Maybe they need to plant some marrum grass...

Select to expand quote

sick_em_rex said..
I'm not sure if that's tongue in cheek or not Mathew but I have been thinking similar things....What about artificially placing beds of weed under the surface down the course (a la Lake George) so as to flatten off the water....
I know it is all a question of safety and of course money but could they install drainage trenches on the leeward side of the course which then gets pumped back into the trench at some point or points along it so as to hopefully stop some of the chop and backwash build up? I guess something like an infinity pool edge.... On the subject of pools what about the lane markers in Olympic pools along the course also. Aside from dividing the lanes in a pool they are also designed to absorb the swash from a swimmer. I know you are then potentially introducing something to get tangled up in/on but considering the size of the canal in Luderitz it could be right up agsint the edge and only robbing the sailors of half a foot or so.

I was thinking along the same lines, but using artificial 'grass', or plastic fronds in mats. They would not have to be continuous, they could be just sections of a couple of meters every 10-20 meters. I think that would kill the rolling chop very effectively.

There was one day last year, and Lena's post above shows the same this year, where the wind was another 5-10 deg broader and the chop was horrendous. It might be possible to go even faster if the chop was neutralized. When the wind is super strong, the limiting factor to how broad you can go is the water state. At Luderitz that changed dramatically for the worse over 135-140 degrees off the wind!