The stakes are high. The harbour town of Luderitz greeted sailors with winds ranging between 20-25 knots and stronger gusts of up to 30-35 knots. After the initial tests and adjustments, the windsurfers hit the channel.

Anders Bringdal clocked at 45.47 knots to earn the highest windsurfing speed of the day. Patrik Diethelm came close with 45.15 knots on his last run. Not bad for the first day of competition.

Meanwhile, two national speed sailing records have been broken. Andrew Redfern, from Fiji, sailed at 36.15 knots, and Martin Toth, from Czech Republic, set a new mark for his country at 39.96 knots.

The kiteboarders were, once again, faster than windsurfers. Sébastien Cattelan, the man who built the Luderitz speedway, was the fastest man of the day by taking his kite to the 50.07 knots. Sylvain Hoceini reached 44.5 knots.

The 2014 Luderitz Speed Challenge will definitely see more records falling as the wind forecast predicts 40-45 knots for the upcoming sailing sessions.