{"id":2161,"date":"2011-09-28T07:43:15","date_gmt":"2011-09-28T12:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/?p=2161"},"modified":"2011-09-28T07:43:15","modified_gmt":"2011-09-28T12:43:15","slug":"petty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/?p=2161","title":{"rendered":"ARE WE REALLY THAT PETTY?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rob Douglas, the present holder of the world speed record under sail, and newly nominated for ISAF male sailor of the year.<\/a><\/p>\n

TURNING LEMONS INTO LEMONADE
\nAmerican Rob Douglas is the fastest sailor on the planet. On October 28,
\n2010, with the wind gusting to 45 knots, Douglas raised the bar further
\nthan anyone had gone before, hitting a new record speed of 55.65 knots in
\nthe manmade trench at Luderitz, Namibia.<\/p>\n

Speed comes from strong, steady wind and flat water, and the virtues of the
\nLuderitz trench in southern Africa first helped Douglas set the outright
\nrecord in 2008 at a speed of 49.84 knots. Ever since, the Luderitz Speed
\nChallenge in October has been the de facto event for windsurfers and
\nkiteboarders to test the limits of speed.<\/p>\n

Having an organized event helps to defray the related costs. Electronic
\ntiming equipment and personnel are needed, along with maintaining the
\nshallow trench so it’s groomed for speed. With the speed averaged over a
\n500 meter distance, organizers in 2010 dug a trench 750 meter long by 3 to
\n5 meters wide by 1 to 3 feet deep.<\/p>\n

After a year of tuning his kites and boards for another record run next
\nmonth at Luderitz, Douglas finds himself on the outside looking in. “I have
\nheard that the Luderitz Speed Challenge is going to happen this year,”
\nreplied Douglas, “but it will be a private event and I am not invited to
\nattend.” The event organizer is also excluding France’s Alexandre
\nCaizergues, who had raised the speed record to 54.10 knots just before
\nDouglas pushed if further to 55.65 knots.<\/p>\n

Douglas has no idea why he is barred from the event. “I can only guess,”
\nsaid Douglas. “Sebastian Cattelan has never won the Luderitz Speed
\nChallenge and maybe with Alex and me not around he will have better luck.
\nNot real good for the sport but that’s the way it goes.” Attempts to
\ncontact organizers of the Luderitz Speed Challenge have been unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Turning lemons into lemonade, Douglas is hosting a GPS speed event on at
\nMartha’s Vineyard on October 16-31. The 12 fastest kitesurfers in world
\nhistory will race, including multiple world record holder Alex Caizergues
\nand the fastest women sailor, Charlotte Consorti. The North American Speed
\nSailing Invitational (NASSI) will have $30,000 in prize money, courtesy of
\nLynch Associates and The Black Dog.<\/p>\n

The event is organized by The North American Speed Sailing Project (NASSP)
\nand under specified conditions laid down by the International Kiteboarding
\nClass Association (IKA). — http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/NASSI-092711<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rob Douglas, the present holder of the world speed record under sail, and newly nominated for ISAF male sailor of the year. TURNING LEMONS INTO LEMONADE American Rob Douglas is the fastest sailor on the planet. On October 28, 2010, with the wind gusting to 45 knots, Douglas raised the bar further than anyone had … Continue reading ARE WE REALLY THAT PETTY?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[349],"tags":[534,915,764],"class_list":["post-2161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world-sailing-speed-record-councilc-speed","tag-kiteboarding","tag-namibia","tag-world-speed-record"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2161"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2162,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161\/revisions\/2162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}