Le Rais Antoine Albeau ever closer to 100 km/h

QIt's a shame that the list of nominees in the running for the title of sailor of the year 2024 – which includes the Charente-Maritime Olympic bronze medalists Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon – was released on Saturday November 30. The next day, Coardais windsurfer Antoine Albeau hit hard by beating his nine-year-old world speed record over 500 meters in Namibia, during the Lüderitz Speed ​​Challenge, which will end at the end of the week. Due to lack of sufficient wind for a new attempt, he took the time to tell us about it.

Under what conditions did you break this record?

On Wednesday November 27, there was a first day where it was still quite fast, with a little over 40 knots of wind. On the GPS of the competition, my time was 53.38 knots but what counts here are the entry and exit cameras, the video. In the evening, the times were checked to be made official, and the time had fallen to 52.98 knots, so I was quite disappointed. There is always a small difference of 0.1 or 0.2 but here it was 0.4… it happens. And then, I still beat the world record for production boards.

And the wind didn't stop…

They still announced for Sunday and Monday. On Sunday, it actually blew a lot, a little more than on Wednesday. There, I beat my 2015 record three times (53.27 knots, Editor's note). Of course, we still had to wait for the video to make it official but I had a time of 53.65, I think. On the video, it dropped to 53.49, it was the world record, it's awesome!

“Every year, speed freaks always came but never managed to beat the record”

Did you feel, live, that you were going faster than in 2015?

Yes, already, because we are faster with less wind with the equipment we have, there has been a nice evolution. We find it easier with an average wind – well average, still quite strong – to go at 50 or 51 knots. And there, we slide better. I have top speeds of one second, and even two seconds, at over 103 km/h, but the average is over 500 m…

What does it feel like to break your own world record, nine years later?

Since 2015, I only came back here last year but we didn't have enough wind. Plus, I broke two ribs at the start, so it wasn't great. There, it's great! Every year, speed freaks always came but never managed to beat the record. It's really great that I can break the record this year. Especially since I also wear the colors of Charente-Maritime and Île de Ré, which help me get there. It's still a trip to the end of the world, a small note of 15,000 euros, all the same… I also always have my local partners who help me, it's the story of a small family who maintains confidence , who supports me on events like this. It's a total success, it's 99.07 km/h. I was really hoping to try to do 54 knots, or 100 km/h, but hey, that'll be next time. It’s like the evening on the pole…

Except that your successive records earn you less than Sergei Bubka or Armand Gustav Duplantis?

It’s clear (laughs).

Is this 100 km/h mark accessible?

It's takeable! I have three GPS with me, one which is for the competition and two of my own. We really cross-reference all the data and we really see that I have a “run” over the first 250 meters at over 54.5 knots and another, over the second half, where I am over 54.5 … 500 meters is a fairly long distance, there isn't a single thing that makes it. The stretch of water is more or less divided into two or three parts and you really need to have wind from start to finish. But it will pass, that's for sure.

Is this record also the realization of the work done with Marc Amerigo on your Zephir Project?

Exactly. For example, I had new fins with profiles really calculated for that. There, we still have two great sponsors – BPCE Solutions Informatiques and Alten, one of the largest global engineering groups – who are behind us. We're moving forward! It boosts the whole team.