Or read it here.....
31 OCTOBER 2011 :
Evening Report :
The wind sure did blow today, apparently it reached up to 55 knots at times; but it was a tough day out there.
The wind was pretty gusty, and there was some nasty chop towards the end of the run.
There were no great speeds recorded from the kiters today, but Anders Bringdal made the most of it on a windsurfer and recorded a very respectable 47 knot 500m (new Swedish record - still to be ratified) and 50 knot peak, which is extremely rare in windsurfing.
Wolfram Reiners set a new German record of 46 knots (still to be ratified) on his very first run.
There were a few spills due to the chop and gusts/lulls; but luckily none were serious.
I also had a skirmish with the canal bank when I sailed into a bad lull and suddenly headed up.
The wind will be a bit lighter tomorrow which might improve the speeds if it's steadier, and there should be less chop.
I'm sure these guys applied for a permit to dig that trench.
Couldn't imagine what b*ll**** you would have to go thru in oz to do that.
Awesome how little margin of error they have!
what yoyo said;
Newly arrived there a few days on this 2011 edition of the Lüderitz Speed Challenge in Namibia, an event that has primarily a test to validate the new channel created by the organizers, Anders Bringdal is about lightning from the outset with a run in excess of 47 knots. Back with S-10 on the day of 31 October during which the Swedish achieves a promising performance for more ...
""I arrived two days ago just to Lüderitz because I really wanted to watch this channel and also to test my new prototypes designed by Diesel Spigaw. During the first day, conditions were not really easy with a channel that does not leave much room for error as it is very narrow. There was also a lot of disruption due to the configuration and construction of the channel the wind. In 30 to 35 knots on average, that n has not always been easy to have good burst but I made some good runs and it proves that we can go even faster on the water.
At the end of the day, and equipped in 5.3 m, I realize 47.30 knots average over 500 meters but mostly, I make a Vmax of 50.71 knots in two seconds. There is no doubt for me for a windsurfer to go beyond 50 knots over 500 meters, we just need the same wind can be a little cleaner on the entire body of water.
On Tuesday, the wind is announced a little less strong in the morning but is expected to strengthen during the day, we are perhaps not at the end of our surprises! "
Source : Anders Bringdal Source: Anders Bringdal
Is that the fastest 2 sec peak of all time? Surprising more of the big guns aren't there. Choco do you know if Anders is using that sail you (or someone) put pictures up of a couple of weeks back? If he is then maybe it just does have some merit afterall....
Image From Speedkiting.org
That channel must look pretty narrow at 50Knots
I'm not sure if the sail is any faster than the production version but it sure does look cool.
Man, that takes balls. One bug pult and he literally wouldn't be walking away.
50.7 2s is amazing, I wonder if he had 2 GT 31's?
Looks very narrow at that angle, not much room for error or skimming on your back head first which is my preferred method if you get the option to bail. Impressive peak speed, I know with my 49knot 10 sec / ~250m you have to be fully lit and literally just flying off that very small area made up of the tail and fin, all other components and you in perfect balance about those two, get to hold that for 500 and your just about on your way to a windsurfing WR.
Not sure if Anders has got a helmut on in that pic', that's the least you would want to be wearing. Look forward to hearing more about his runs and equipment used.
Hats off to him and others for giving it go, let's wish them all a safe ride in what I'd describe as bit like threading the eye of a needle for 500m, oh and then there's the slow down.
looks like his blonde locks flying in the wind Spotty! No helmet from what I can see.
he was on the '12 42cm Mistral. One of his GPSs wasnt working on the big day, but he had both working the next day. He told me he was hitting 49 peaks on his 5.7m in 35-40kts wind but the 5x10 was just over 47. Sounds like it was very turbulent wind on the run, which is not surprising due to the sand lumped up on the edge. Good effort I reckon 
Hats on and respect to him and all those running down that gutter.
Anyone want to comment about the kiter sailing one handed behind him in the chop?
that's why we stay with w/surf....more of a challenge 
Seems the windsurfers aren't the only ones having difficulties with the course.
"The kitesurfers down in Luderitz haven't been showing any real magic as yet. Apparently they have found that there is a lot of chop in the channel caused by the deep TWA (true wind angle around 140 degrees to the wind) i.e. the chop is rolling down the length of it. Too much chop in a 3m wide channel! Things are never as easy as they first seem."
I'd hazard a guess that last years canal was a lot faster as the leeward side was open to let the chop flow out and the bank had a gradual slope to it that absorb some of the reflected chop. Also it was more of a curved course last year that dampened out the following chop, one of the reasons Sandy Point is so fast.
There's talk some kiters have ended up visiting the local hospital or witch doctor after taking major falls caused by the chop towards the end of the course.
Additionally the course is further up the valley and the turbulence from the hills is causing the very gusty conditions for the kiters. There's some work being done on the windward sand piles to make the wind smoother for the windsurfers.
Roo
They need to set up vertical slide gates every 50m that drop at the start of each run(and then raise again) and stop rolling chop from building up. Serious record attempts only due to the waiting/timing invloved!
Sorry for stating the obvious but...Why didn't the excavator op (when digging the trench) dump the dirt on the down wind side!!!
Sure this would have been considered as it appears the diert has been dumped on the upwind side
Seb tried to deflect the wind over the canal and built a ramp on the windward side, but this had the opposite effect and causes more downward force on the water due to a mini low pressure on the lee side of this ramp. He is hiring the digger again on Friday and will remove the ramp and improve the entry.
The large windward pocket follows the design of Bjorn's Prydes which he used for his speed attempts years ago. However when outside the loft the wind pressure usually presses the rear half of the pocket onto the sail thereby rendering the concept partially obsolete. As can be seen when North made a version when Bjorn was with them.
Windsurfing legend Anders Bringdal arrived just hours ahead of big wind in Luderitz, but this did not deter him in setting the highest peak speed ever recorded on a windsurfer (50.72 Vmax).
This clip was taken on 31 Oct by Humberto Torrinha from Angola using my Lumix HD camera.
Excuse the slight shudder, it was gusting up to 55 knots at the time.
He came to test the new canal on short notice which took more than 8 months to get the approval to dig.
Interesting report (from www.speedkiting.org). It'd be interesting to see if the canal improvements mentioned below bring even faster speeds in the next few days:
6 NOVEMBER 2011 :
Good on Anders Bringdal for taking the chance and coming on short notice when he saw the big wind forecast, and a few hours later was setting some blistering speeds on his windsurfer (21cm Assy fin, 2012 pre-production Mistral board and prototype 5 Assy sail).
There was a real mess with his GPS's on 31 Oct, so his GPS session posted was from the day after (1 Nov) when the wind was lighter.
Firstly his GPS was set to only read every 2 seconds and therefore did not record his historic peak speed, and he later exchanged his GPS for another which was set up even worse; Memory & Data Logger were switched off, so nothing was recorded; and his 5.7 sail had a small hole in it, so he used a 5 instead.
Despite this, his speeds were still good enough to land him second place on the GPS ranking (by a whisker).
Were Anders not so tired from his trip and wearing the correctly configured GPS's on the first day, his speeds would have been even more impressive.
It's far from over though, he might still record the first ever 50 knot 500m run as early as next week, as there a string of windy days coming up, and the canal improvements should improve his peak and average.
The reason other windsurfers (and kiters) were not invited is this year is intended as a test, approval to dig the canal took 8 month and was not a certainty, and hosting a fully fledged event on short notice would have added extra pressure on Seb and Sophie.
5 NOVEMBER 2011 :
I'm busy compiling the footage from Luderitz and will publish it over the next few days.
More digging was done on the canal yesterday to improve the start and end of the run, and the sand ramp on the windward bank has been removed . The sharp edges on the leeward bank have also been removed to make it safer.
These changes coupled with a full tide next week should improve the speeds and safety.
Trials will be done at Storm Vogel bay this afternoon, and racing will return to the canal later next week.
There's a string of decent wind days coming up soon.
looks like Anders hit a 50.3 yesterday... not sure about the 500 or 5x10. Apparently the wind isnt done yet.
From speedkiting site....
"Anders Bringdal had yet another 50 peak (50.1) and improved his Swedish record to 47.44 knots. This should land him first place on the windsurfing GPS rankings.
The wind blew stronger in the late afternoon and was a good strength (40 to 50+ knots). It was slightly squarer and the course less choppy."
Guess will have to wait and see wether that 47.44 is his 500 or 10sec or 5x10, if it is for the 500 there's a good chance it will put Anders at the top of the GPSSWR10 sec record ranking and maybe the all-time 5x10 ranking. Notice of record attempt also posted on GPSS by Anders, figure he will have sorted his Gps issues out this time around as well.
He's definitely getting some solid hi speed 50 practice in once again.
