What happens when you put a keen amateur sailor in with the worlds very best on the infamous Luderitz speed course? This story is a little bit late but it is well worth the read anyway with some really nice pics from Windsurfing Australia!

Photo courtesy of Windsurfing Australia

By Raffaello Gardelli 

Arriving in Luderitz and driving through the desert is already an experience. With wild animals walking over the dirt roads, and seemingly endless straight roads with fantastic panorama views.

Getting nearer to Luderitz you’ll have the road signs telling you, attention strong WINDS and SAND – Hell you can’t hold the car on a straight line. The road is blasted with sand, like in a snow storm, blizzard.

I was getting very nervous, just by thinking, how will I manage to sail with a 5.5 on the canal with so much wind, when normally I would take a wave sail with maximum off 3.0.

Finally arriving after a two day travel with a stop over in Springbok (just before the boarder to Namibia), I was warmly received by the organizer at the Nest Hotel in Luderitz (where most of the crazy racers stayed). It was a Sunday that I arrived and the wind was brutal!!!

Photo courtesy of Windsurfing Australia

On monday I drove to the canal and was very happy to be finally here. But my brain was like in a different mode, it was unreal… what am I doing here.

After the skippers meeting, around lunch time, we rigged our sails and headed to the start. You jump on your board, sheet in and you’re brain switches to race mode. You get that “tunnel view”, left and right doesn’t exists anymore (but anyway you can’t go left or right, the sandbanks would kill you).

Photo courtesy of Windsurfing Australia

Your body is full of adrenalin and you focus so hard that your goals, you set for this competition are blown away. You just head off the starting area and fly on the first 80m towards the left bend of the canal, where you accelerate from 20knots to over 40knots. Everything changes to a dream and you feel like in a slow motion movie. You just fly down the strip – no chop – the board and sail is in line and wants more and more speed. You could hold everything with two fingers and toes. After 500 meters you’re crossing the finishing line and lay down jibe your sail – Done! Ending up with the brightest smile you ever had!!!

You’ve done it… how good is that… your first sail with over 40knots!

But then the serious part starts… you change the set up of your gear to balance everything to perfection. Tension the battens more or less, putting spacer in to give the sail the right profile for the broad reach. Loosening up the top batten, so the sail can breath better in the top, changing the downhaul and outhaul and so on… every knot off more speed is a challenge.

Unfortunately the winds where not that strong – 25 to 30knots – and my top speed was 44,92knots. Which is far too slow!!! (Editors note: Only in luderitz will you hear a starement like that! Raffaello was only 3.5 knots slower than world record holder Antoine Albeau that day which we think is a great acheivement.)But anyhow next year we’ll head for more!!!

It’s the first time I have ever done a speed challenge and I learned a lot for the future. Using the GPS Sails gave me a lot of confidence to reach maximum speeds! Thank you TOM!!! Fantastic job!!!

Photo courtesy of Windsurfing Australia

I think a lot of people would love to know more about the GPS Sails. In my opinion the sails work fantastic all over. You just lock on and off you go. They are very stable and easy in your hands and firmly stick to the board with no gap between sail and board. Out of the jibe they accelerate very strong and are getting into planing very quickly.

The 6.0 and 5.5 I used in Luderitz but mainly the 5.5. The size 5.5 is the perfect sail for Luderitz, when the winds are blowing from 30knot up to 45knots. The size 6.0 you’ll use when winds are around 25 to 35knots because you’ll need the extra power for the broad angle at the canal.

Last but not least all the racers where great. We had a fantastic time, if not my best time at a competition I have ever been to.

Luderitz – ” I’ll be back”

A big THANK YOU TO HOT SAILS MAUI.

Authors: Jeff