Salt and Speed 2! World Kiteboarding Speed Record Attempt

Mar 4, 2013

After some initial attempts at the Outright Sailing Speed Record late last year, Alexandre Caizergues and Rob Douglas will be back in action from 10 March to 18 April 2013 at the new speed spot in France’s Salin-de-Giraud.

With an average speed of 53.40 knots for the American and 52.45 knots for the Frenchman over 500 metres, the first “Salt and Speed” session proved to be a popular success, as well as enabling the kitesurfers to validate the Volkswagen Transporter Arena and rack up the year’s best world performance in kitesurfing. Since that time, Alex and Rob have put in a lot of training both on and off the water so as to continue to make technical and physical advances. Alex Caizergues has linked together a series of sessions in South Africa and Qatar, whilst Rob has been in Costa Rica. As such the two guys are honed and ready to boost their record haul, a bid which will initially involve trying to improve on the current World kitesurfing speed record held by Rob Douglas himself (55.65 knots). “We mustn’t let our imagination run away with us. It’s going to take a while to go faster than SailRocket 2 and her 65.45 knots, but at this particular speed spot, Rob’s world record is within our grasp and 60 knots is a reasonable target,” explains Alex Caizergues. “Weather conditions in early March are often excellent with a strong Mistral and we’re feeling motivated. We’ll be working with the same organisation team as you don’t change a winning team.”

Alexandre Caizergues:

Born on 14 March 1979

3 x World Speed Champion (2007, 2008, 2009)
2 x World Speed Record all categories combined in 2008 and 2010
2 x World Kite Speed Record in 2007 and 2009
2 x FFVL (French Free Flight Federation) French Speed Champion
European Long Distance Number Two 2008
World Speed Number Two 2006

1st man to break 100 km/hr on the water, propelled by the wind

Partners: Ouest Provence – AlpEnergie par GDF SUEZ - Volkswagen Véhicules Utilitaires (Commercial Vehicles) – Zenith – Sosh.

Rob Douglas:

Born on 16 June 1971

World Speed Record all categories combined in 2011 with 55.65 knots and 49.84 knots in 2008.

World Speed Champion 2012

Partners: The Black Dog - Cabrinha - Lynch Associates - NPX - Dakine - Curtis Fins- Mike's Lab custom boards

In figures:

65.45 knots: Sailrocket 2 November 2012

55.65 knots: Rob Douglas 28 October 2010 Namibia

55.49 knots: Seb Cattelan 28 October 2010 Namibia

54.10 knots: Alexandre Caizergues 12 October 2010 Luderitz, Namibia exceeding 100km/hr

51.36 knots: Hydroptère on 6 September 2009

50.57 knots: Alexandre Caizergues 4 October 2008 Luderitz, Namibia

50.26 knots: Seb Cattelan 3 October 2008 Luderitz, Namibia

49.84 knots: Rob Douglas 19 September 2008 Luderitz, Namibia

49.09 knots: World Speed Record Antoine Albeau 5 March 2008 in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France

46.82 knots: Record set by windsurfer Finian Maynard in the autumn of 2004, bringing an end to the hegemony of the sailboat Yellow Pages in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France

46.52 knots: Yellow Pages Endeavour in 1993 at the Sandy Point spot, Australia

38.86 knots: Pascal MAKA the first windsurfer to rack up a new official record with 38.86 knots in Sotavento

26.30 knots: Crossbow Catamaran in Portland in 1972

NB: the outright World Sailing Speed Record is the best average speed over 500m by a sail-powered contraption… As such it is different to a peak speed!

Partners to “Salt and Speed”: Volkswagen Véhicules Utilitaires (Commercial Vehicles), Groupe Salins, Zenith, Fédération Française de Vol Libre (French Free Flight Federation).

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