Setting a new speed record
It was through a mutual friend - Olivier Ponrouch, a figure from the early days of windsurfing in the speed circuit - that Antoine Albeau met Marc Amerigo. The latter is the creator of the concept of "UltraPerformance through Human Fulfillment" and the holder of numerous speed records.
"Marc was looking for a windsurfer for a speed project with a view to breaking a new record. He has already organized several such projects, especially in snowboarding. I liked the way he looked at these projects. He is very professional and ambitious. We started out in a difficult year, but we've made good progress in 2020, with a lot of people and companies supporting us" explains Antoine.
A cluster of experts and companies from various fields
The idea of this project is to fly at very high speeds, with a minimum of effort and energy and a maximum of safety and to exceed 65 knots.
But to set up such a project, the two men surrounded themselves with a team of experts from different fields. This international team is made up of 80 experts and 50 companies from the world of competitive sailing (America's Cup, Volvo Ocean Race, Vendée Globe...), but also from F1, aeronautics and space, 3D modelling, design, cinema and artificial intelligence..
" I've been speeding for a lot of years. It wasn't amateurish, but there's no real research. We were doing R&D, but not in a very advanced way like in other sports. I was very busy on my World Cup circuit and my partners were helping me to win this slalom World Cup. But we still had each other because the equipment was changing every year, but not a lot."
Wind tunnel tests
For this new record, it will be necessary to "reinvent windsurfing", to rethink the support through calculations.
And to begin with, the windsurfer spent 4 days in the wind tunnel to understand the aerodynamic phenomena at high speed (forces generated, sail deformation, pilot drag, potential gains, help with 3D numerical simulations...). The team analyzed and optimized Antoine Albeau's drag in world record conditions (flow visualizations, in particular with smoke jets and fluorescent particles that help to understand the air flow around Antoine's body and sails).
"We thought we'd found results in our sailing, but in the wind tunnel we've gone beyond that. We've got some calculation results we didn't think we'd find. It's really engineering. In the end, we work more or less the same way as a sports car or motorcycle team when it comes to speed research. We really found out that the rider has a very big influence on speed. It's a big brake. So we're going to develop an aerodynamic combination to improve speed."
Developing a new windsurfing board
This first half of 2021 will be devoted to the design and production of the first prototypes of the sails of the future.
"We've already got a lot of ideas for sails, we've developed sails that I've tested and which are better. We're developing a new sail again and working on the float. We're working with Martin Fischer - co-responsible for the Luna Rossa design team - who is working on the foils for the America's Cup challenge. He's the one who will design the board for us, which we'll build and then test.
With our current equipment, to reach 100 km/h, you need 100 km/h of wind. We would like to reach this speed already in 35 knots of wind, like the America's Cup boats do, but in protected areas with very little choppy water. It's very difficult to sail in 100 km/h, the water is deteriorating rapidly."
A new speed base approved in France
The record will be set in France as the team has found a new approved speed base.
"There's a speed base near the Canal de Sainte-Marie, near Gruissan, but it wasn't really dug in the right place and dates from the 1980s. There is also this spot in Namibia, discovered by a Frenchman and which offers very windy conditions in October/November. But for this project, we found another spot based near La Palme, near Narbonne."
Thus, this spot has been homologated for both a 500 m run and a run of 1.852 km, or 1 nautical mile.
This project is expected to be completed in 3 years, but intermediate steps are planned throughout the preparation. For the moment, the team is looking for funding and partners to be able to implement the project.
"It's a really nice project that's going to take some time." concludes Antoine Albeau.
