50.57 kn

The wind did not meet suitable conditions during the whole day, so we called the race off at 14:30 to allow the riders some rest after yesterdays tough conditions. A good decision, as the wind completely died afterwards and even shifted to onshore for a few minutes.

Hopefully we do not get the "Calima" easterly wind, with hot air blown over from the sahara. The forecast looks pretty excellent for the rest of the week, so we are sure to get some more good rounds in.

Antoine Albeau (FRA, Starboard) and Valerie Ghibaudo (FRA, Loft Sails) are still leading the ISWC Speed Windsurfing World Championship in Fuerteventura.

Both races today were won by Antoine in the mens fleet, and Karin Jaggi (SUI, F2, North) in the womens fleet. In difficult conditions with breaking waves of up to 1.5 meter and up to 30 knots of wind, the majority of the competitors had difficulties to score good runs.

The first race of the ’08 speedwindsurfing world championship is a fact and right from the start we had a good one with a double extension.

At the mandatory skippersmeeting this morning at 10:00, all racers received, besides the last instructions, there personal GPS-device which identifies them during the race and enables a world wide audience to follow the racing action live on the internet. For the first time in the history of speedwindsurfing the official WSSRC timing system is combined with GPS timing. Thus all tracks of the speedsailors can be followed on the live spectator in real  time.

64 competitors from 16 nations, representing three continents, registered today for the battle for the crown of speed windsurfing. All the big names are here, like Albeau, Dunkerbeck, Maynard, Diethelm, so the racing promises to be really exciting, especially as the conditions here on Fuerteventura will test all skills of the sailors.

Racing starts on saturday with the first skippersmeeting at 10:00 hours, and a first possible start at 11:00. You can follow the whole event live throug the live spectator, as all the competitors are equipped with live GPS tracking devices.

Sotavento Beach saw another epic battle today, with the better end for Sebastien Cattelan. Two races were completed today, varying from 20 knots and flat water to 30 knots and killer chop.

It was again Cattelan, Douglas and Roberts who fought for the event lead. Christophe Prin-Guenon is also still in reach of the podium.