Martel quickest on the boards

STUART MARTEL has become the island windsurfing speed champion. He achieved a top speed of 31.6 knots on his 'sinker' board with a camber-induced rig to take the 2006 title after approximately 20 sailors logged their speeds over the course of the year, with the majority improving theirs significantly.

The resurgence of competitive 'speedsailing' in the world of windsurfing means that the Guernsey Boardsailing Association were able to put the discipline firmly back onto the competitive schedule for 2006 after an absence of several years.

'Speedsailing' is quite simply just about seeing who can clock up the fastest speed and as a discipline it has seen an international resurgence over the last two years since a windsurfer re-took the world sailing speed record at a speed of 48.70knots or 56.04mph in 2004.

The availability of modern wrist-mounted GPS trackers means that sailors can now easily see their top speed and average speed, distance travelled while out on the water and can also download the data to a desktop PC.

The sensitivity of the equipment means that the displayed speeds are accurate to 0.1-of-a-knot and consequently the results of the fine-tuning of sails and boards can be easily seen and the settings recorded.

The boards used do not have enough buoyancy to provide sufficient floatation to support the sailor and consequently sink at low speed. So, like a water skier, the sailor needs to use skill to keep the board moving and skimming over the water surface.

The sails are specially shaped to be similar in profile to an aircraft wing and generate forward drive very efficiently even at very low wind speeds.

The equipment is so efficient that in the lower wind ranges of 15-20 knots, sailors can clock up speeds almost twice as fast as the wind.

However, the island record of 42.09 knots set by Martyn Ogier in 1995 for the moment remains a long way out of reach of the majority of sailors and it also means that Guernsey still ranks as the 11th fastest nation in the world.

To put the speeds into perspective, Martel's 31.6 knots is about the same as the cruising speed of the Condor wavepiercer ferries and Ogier's would see him reach Herm from St Peter Port pier heads in about four-and-a-half minutes.

The 2007 season is already looking good, with speeds of 30-plus knots already having been achieved.