Exciting speed challenge comes to an end

THE 2008 Luederitz Speed Challenge ended on Friday with the official closing ceremony at the Nest Hotel.

A lot was achieved in four weeks, with the first man going over 50 knots and the old outright sailing record smashed several times. Already from the beginning, everybody was on fire when American Rob Douglas broke Antoine Albeau’s (FRA, Starboard) outright record the first time on September 19 with a blistering run of 49,84 knots, while Sjoukje Bredenkamp set a new women’s record at 45,2 knots.The fastest speeds were constantly changed by the top contenders, Alex Caizergues, Sebastien Cattelan, Chris Prin-Guenon (all France), Rob Douglas and Hennie Bredenkamp (South Africa).Improving the racing course from day to day with sandbags and wooden barriers to stop the chop from the river outlets, the speeds improved as well.After two weeks of competition, 49 knots was nothing special anymore and it was only a question of time until the 50 would fall.On October 3, speeds increased and conditions became hectic.Finally, Sebastien Cattelan was the first man over 50 knots; with 50,26 the magical barrier was finally broken.With the arrival of Charlotte Consorti (France) the women’s competition became more thrilling, and with a best speed of 44,74 knots she missed Sjoukje’s best speed from the beginning of the event only closely.On October 4, Alex Caizergues snatched victory with a new outright world record (subject to WSSRC ratification) of 50,57 knots The last two days of competition saw hauling winds again, and Rob Douglas and Sebastien Cattelan took another shot at the record, but missed Alex’s best speed by only 1/100 (Rob Douglas) and 2/100 (Sebastien Cattelan) of a second.At Alex’s record speed of 50,57 knots this means only 26 cm difference on a 501-metre-long speed strip between the top three contenders.Final Event Ranking Men: 1.Alexandre Caizergues, FRA 2.Sebastien Cattelan, FRA 3.Robert Douglas, USA 4.Christophe Prin-Guenon, FRA 5.Jerome Bila, FRA Final Event Ranking Women: 1.Sjoukje Bredenkamp, RSA 2.Charlotte Consorti, FRA 3.Katja Roose, NED Records broken on this event (all subject to WSSRC ratification) Alexandre Caizergues, French and World Outright: 50.57 knots Robert Douglas, US Outright: 50.54 knots Grant Ross, South African Outright: 58.79 knots Rolf van der Vlugt, Dutch Outright: 47.46 knots Sjoukje Bredenkamp, South African and World Outright Women: 45,20 knots Juergen Geiger, Namibian Outright: 44.90 knots David Williams, British Outright: 44.78 knots Charlotte Consorti, French Outright Women: 44.74 knots Bjorn Dunkerbeck, Spanish Outright: 44.74 knots Jernej Privsek, Slovenian Outright: 43.42 knots Marc Avela, Spanish Kiteboarding: 42.76 knots Christian Barret, Belgium Outright: 40.87 knots Katja Roose, Dutch Outright Women: 39.58 knots Jemma Grobbelaar, British Outright Women: 31.18 knots —- Cheruiyot wins in Chicago CHICAGO – Kenya’s Evans Cheruiyot made it two marathon triumphs in as many career races Sunday by winning the Chicago Marathon men’s title while Russian veteran Lidiya Grigoryeva captured the women’s crown.Cheruiyot won in two hours, six minutes and 25 seconds to head a Kenyan podium sweep.David Mandago, at 33 the oldest runner in the men’s field, was second in 2:07:37 with Timothy Cherigat third in 2:11:39.Cheruiyot made a triumphant marathon debut last year at Milan.Mandago surged ahead in the 23rd mile but Cheruiyot, 26, stayed within reach and made his move to grab the lead in the 25th mile and claim the victory by 72 seconds, the sixth triumph in a row at Chicago by a Kenyan man.In the 19th mile, Mandago had motioned for Cheruiyot to share the work at the front as warm weather made the going tougher.”He told me to push the pace,” Cheruiyot said.”But I didn’t want to go to the front because I didn’t have experience with the marathon.”Cheruiyot’s victory gave Kenyan men victories in four of the five 2008 World Marathon Majors series races – London, Boston, the Olympics and Chicago – with the New York Marathon still to come.However, there was only more heartache for Kenya’s Daniel Njenga, ninth in 2:17:33.Njenga has had six podium finishes at Chicago, including a third-place effort in 2007, but has yet to taste victory.Reigning Rotterdam Marathon champion William Kipsang was eighth, his course record-setting victory in April having given the Kenyan the fastest entry time at Chicago.Kenya’s Emmanuel Mutai, fourth at the London Marathon last April in a personal best 2:06:15, was sixth in 2:15:36.Grigoryeva, the 2007 Boston Marathon winner, surged ahead of compatriot Alevtina Biktimirova in the 21st mile and won in 2:27:17, defeating runner-up Biktimirova by 2:15 seconds with Japan’s Kiyoko Shimahara third in 2:30:19.- Nampa-AFPAlready from the beginning, everybody was on fire when American Rob Douglas broke Antoine Albeau’s (FRA, Starboard) outright record the first time on September 19 with a blistering run of 49,84 knots, while Sjoukje Bredenkamp set a new women’s record at 45,2 knots.The fastest speeds were constantly changed by the top contenders, Alex Caizergues, Sebastien Cattelan, Chris Prin-Guenon (all France), Rob Douglas and Hennie Bredenkamp (South Africa).Improving the racing course from day to day with sandbags and wooden barriers to stop the chop from the river outlets, the speeds improved as well.After two weeks of competition, 49 knots was nothing special anymore and it was only a question of time until the 50 would fall.On October 3, speeds increased and conditions became hectic.Finally, Sebastien Cattelan was the first man over 50 knots; with 50,26 the magical barrier was finally broken.With the arrival of Charlotte Consorti (France) the women’s competition became more thrilling, and with a best speed of 44,74 knots she missed Sjoukje’s best speed from the beginning of the event only closely.On October 4, Alex Caizergues snatched victory with a new outright world record (subject to WSSRC ratification) of 50,57 knots The last two days of competition saw hauling winds again, and Rob Douglas and Sebastien Cattelan took another shot at the record, but missed Alex’s best speed by only 1/100 (Rob Douglas) and 2/100 (Sebastien Cattelan) of a second.At Alex’s record speed of 50,57 knots this means only 26 cm difference on a 501-metre-long speed strip between the top three contenders. Final Event Ranking Men: 1.Alexandre Caizergues, FRA 2.Sebastien Cattelan, FRA 3.Robert Douglas, USA 4.Christophe Prin-Guenon, FRA 5.Jerome Bila, FRA Final Event Ranking Women: 1.Sjoukje Bredenkamp, RSA 2.Charlotte Consorti, FRA 3.Katja Roose, NED Records broken on this event (all subject to WSSRC ratification) Alexandre Caizergues, French and World Outright: 50.57 knots Robert Douglas, US Outright: 50.54 knots Grant Ross, South African Outright: 58.79 knots Rolf van der Vlugt, Dutch Outright: 47.46 knots Sjoukje Bredenkamp, South African and World Outright Women: 45,20 knots Juergen Geiger, Namibian Outright: 44.90 knots David Williams, British Outright: 44.78 knots Charlotte Consorti, French Outright Women: 44.74 knots Bjorn Dunkerbeck, Spanish Outright: 44.74 knots Jernej Privsek, Slovenian Outright: 43.42 knots Marc Avela, Spanish Kiteboarding: 42.76 knots Christian Barret, Belgium Outright: 40.87 knots Katja Roose, Dutch Outright Women: 39.58 knots Jemma Grobbelaar, British Outright Women: 31.18 knots —- Cheruiyot wins in Chicago CHICAGO – Kenya’s Evans Cheruiyot made it two marathon triumphs in as many career races Sunday by winning the Chicago Marathon men’s title while Russian veteran Lidiya Grigoryeva captured the women’s crown.Cheruiyot won in two hours, six minutes and 25 seconds to head a Kenyan podium sweep.David Mandago, at 33 the oldest runner in the men’s field, was second in 2:07:37 with Timothy Cherigat third in 2:11:39.Cheruiyot made a triumphant marathon debut last year at Milan.Mandago surged ahead in the 23rd mile but Cheruiyot, 26, stayed within reach and made his move to grab the lead in the 25th mile and claim the victory by 72 seconds, the sixth triumph in a row at Chicago by a Kenyan man.In the 19th mile, Mandago had motioned for Cheruiyot to
share the work at the front as warm weather made the going tougher.”He told me to push the pace,” Cheruiyot said.”But I didn’t want to go to the front because I didn’t have experience with the marathon.”Cheruiyot’s victory gave Kenyan men victories in four of the five 2008 World Marathon Majors series races – London, Boston, the Olympics and Chicago – with the New York Marathon still to come.However, there was only more heartache for Kenya’s Daniel Njenga, ninth in 2:17:33.Njenga has had six podium finishes at Chicago, including a third-place effort in 2007, but has yet to taste victory.Reigning Rotterdam Marathon champion William Kipsang was eighth, his course record-setting victory in April having given the Kenyan the fastest entry time at Chicago.Kenya’s Emmanuel Mutai, fourth at the London Marathon last April in a personal best 2:06:15, was sixth in 2:15:36.Grigoryeva, the 2007 Boston Marathon winner, surged ahead of compatriot Alevtina Biktimirova in the 21st mile and won in 2:27:17, defeating runner-up Biktimirova by 2:15 seconds with Japan’s Kiyoko Shimahara third in 2:30:19.- Nampa-AFP