From: http://www.windsurfjournal.com/default. ... anguages=2

"Here’s a bit of news we can expect our kitesurfing colleagues to be shouting about in that small and special world of speed sailing… After their exploits in Luderitz, Namibia, during the autumn, now German kitesurfer Timann Heining has found a way to steal the headlines with an incredible performance in the weekend just gone, with 50.9 knots average over 500 metres !!!
Apparently conditions in Westerhever, Germany, on this Saturday 26th January were near-perfect with average winds around 35-45 knots and an angle of 145 degreees. Although the results are GPS registered, that doesn’t make them any less precise (or “official”) thanks to the Doppler system in use… And the other very interesting information is that during the run in question, Heining clocked a VMax (top speed) of 55.2 knots !!! Although the result is ‘only’ GPS and therefore only has a theoretical value, as it was registered outside an officially recognised speed trial event, it nevertheless jumps out kitesurfing colleagues to the head of the bunch chasing that speed record !!!"


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2gSQXy4-Mw[/youtube]

wow that guy goes down hard!

Excellent,yeh man......The need for speed....

Sorry its not a windsurfer did it, but I thought a kiter would probably do the magic 50 over 500m first. Shallow water = smoother. At least it wasn't the sit-down sailors! All those speed guys are CRAZY!

Here the speeds every second during the video:
54...54...53...53...54...52...53...53...53...52...51...46...38...31...25...20...14...6...3 knots

From: http://50knots.xs4all.nl:3006/gps-kites ... =401&uid=4

Interesting post by Finian Maynard, several people have commented that it has the whiff of sour grapes. Explains why it isn't the "official" 500 m record anyway.

http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/gps.asp ... 1&val=6096