Windsurfers chase record speeds in Lüderitz

Otis Daniels
  • 1 Day Ago
Otis Daniels The world’s best windsurfing speed record chasers are competing in Namibia at the 2025 Lüderitz Speed Challenge (LSC).



The event, which commenced on 3 November and concludes on Sunday, is hosted annually at a specially constructed channel located in the harbour town’s second lagoon. This year’s contenders consist of 16 top-ranked men, with Jenna Gibson (28) from the United Kingdom (UK) and Heidi Ulrich (41) from Switzerland being the only female competitors.



Top-notch



Noteworthy competitors (to mention but a few) include the current world and multiple champion, Antoine Albeau (53), from France. Albeau set the record of 53.49 knots over the 500-metre speed strip in 2015 at the LSC. He started windsurfing at the age of five on the island of Ré on France’s west coast. Guided by his father, Albeau became a professional windsurfer in 1992.



Since then, he has accumulated numerous national and international titles and is now considered one of the best windsurfers in the world. Jenna Gibson (28) from the UK currently holds the women’s record. She clocked 48.03 knots over the 500-metre speed strip at the LSC in 2024 and became the first woman to break the 50-knot barrier for peak speed.



Gibson broke the world speed record of 47.96 knots six times during the 2024 competition. She usually competes in the Slalom IFCA class and is a four-time world champion, unbeaten in six years of competing.



Young gun



Brendan Lorho (20), also from France, is the youngest member of windsurfing’s 50-knot club. At the age of 19, Lorho became the youngest windsurfer on the planet to break 50 knots, clocking 50.62 knots over the 500-metre course at the LSC in Namibia on 1 December 2024. Lorho was exactly 19 years and 171 days old when he set the fastest speed recorded in the under-21 category.



This feat eventually earned him a spot in the French version of the Guinness Book of World Records. He is also the PWA Youth Boys Fin Champion 2025. He came out blazing in defence of his 2024 title, winning 44 of the 47 eliminations he raced to clinch the crown again.



Slow start



Record attempts are always spread over a long period to take advantage of the best winds possible. The long wait at this year’s event has been testing for the 16 competitors, with limited “channel time” so far.



“Up to this stage, we have only had four days of solid winds. The wind is never guaranteed, and hopefully it will be strong enough, with the right angle, for potential national and world records to fall. If the conditions are right, there is no reason world records and national records cannot fall,” said one of LSC’s main sponsors, Bruno de Comarmond of the Lüderitz Nest Hotel.



He explained that there are speed-sailing events hosted throughout the world, with the LSC being one of them.



“Namibia and Lüderitz feature in the Guinness Book of Records every year due to the LSC. We happen to be the fastest and the best.”



Comarmond highlighted that during any annual LSC Speed Challenge event, the entire world windsurfing media focuses on Lüderitz.



“To date, we have had 100 national records broken and 19 world records smashed right here in Lüderitz. So, if one had to put a monetary value on that publicity, it would run into the millions of dollars.”