21.11.07 | Solid training session ends
The Canal in Saintes Maries delivered two solid days of Southeast wind that was an excellent start to the 5-month period in the chase for the 50-knot barrier, national records and individual personal bests.
Tuesday, November 20th
The wind was strongest during the early afternoon with a range between 35/40-knots with the occasional bigger gust. Patrik Diethelm set a new production board record with an excellent time of 44.71-knots on his F2 XS Missile and Antoine Albeau set a new French windsurfing record with a speed of 46.55-knots.
Unfortunately the wind was too square for a chance at the world record with a constant orientation of 105-110 degrees, which made the apparent wind in the face feel like the wind was much stronger. The speeds from Antoine and Finian were impressive considering that the conditions were far from perfect with exceptionally gusty winds that were very unusual for this wind direction. Some competitors like Finian had flown from Maui for two-days and drove from Munich for 12-hours arriving at noon with no rest so it was a real struggle for him to attack the conditions.
The day?s ranking
Antoine Albeau 46.55
Finian Maynard 46.31
Patrik Diethelm 44.71
Cedric Bordes 43.96
David Garrel 42.13
Farrel O?Shea 39.30
Thomas Gaudiot 38.88
Henrik Klagges 38.54
Andrea Baldini 37.65
Karin Jaggi 37.24
Valerie Ghibaudo 37.16
Marion Raisi 33.51
Wednesday, November 21st
The Canal survived the onslaught of the ocean during the night and the timing was opened early at 8:30am as the first light comes at 7:30 during the winter months. The access road was blocked with a bulldozer clearing the sand so many competitors were forced to wait for the road to open during the best wind period of the day. There were small windows of opportunity during the day until 1pm for decent runs but the wind started to die quickly at 2pm and the session was called off at 3pm. The angle was again very square, which made any possibility at high speeds almost impossible and the wind until 1pm was 30/35-knots, which was a good deal less than yesterday. Finian found his tuning after 2-years away from running on the Canal to post a decent speed considering the light wind.
The day?s ranking
Finian Maynard 46.07
Antoine Albeau 45.59
Patrik Diethelm 42.32
David Garrel 42.22
Cedric Bordes 41.73
Valerie Ghibaudo 37.49
Thomas Gaudiot 37.47
Andrea Baldini 35.81
Marion Raisi 33.51
Next week there is a long-term forecast for Mistral wind that we are closely monitoring. If world record conditions arrive we expect our media partner windsurfjournal.com to begin our live coverage straight from the Canal and we will put our live ticker online for immediate information.
Pictures will be posted shortly.
