Dakine Weymouth Speed Week, hosted by the 2012 Olympic Sailing Venue, Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA), has come to a close. It has been an exciting week with over 100 competitors from 6 countries.
The objective of Weymouth Speed Week is to sail as fast as you can over the 500m course and beat the world record, which stands at a current absolute speed of 46.52 knots. There has been strong competition throughout the week, and on Saturday, Anders Bringdal set a new harbour record by achieving a speed of 38.48 knots whilst the majority of competitors exceeded 30 knots. Local Weymouth sailor and member of Skandia Team GBR Nick Dempsey competed early in the week and achieved a top speed of 35.86 knots.
Competitors have come to Weymouth from all corners of the globe and now, with a new record to beat, entrants are already signing up for next years' event. In addition to the Harbour record, for the first time a competitor, Dave White, raced the course in three disciplines: sailboard, kiteboard and Tornado.
Sunday saw many of the juniors achieving some fantastic results with the fastest junior kite boarder recording a speed of 32.43 knots. A special award was given to Henry Bloodworth, aged 10, who sailed in each session on Saturday but never managed to finish a run down the course. Unfazed by this he competed again on Sunday and managed to complete 4 runs with his fastest at nearly 17 knots.
Yachting Monthly, 14 October 2008
