The desert is quiet, hot, and dry—at least normally. In Namibia, on the west coast of Africa, there is a place that is also hot and dry—but also extremely windy. Lüderitz, a small town with a population of 12,000, has emerged as the perfect spot for speed windsurfing. Here you can surf on the open sea, if you're not afraid of the vast numbers of sharks.
But the real special feature of the place lies inland.
Here, resourceful speed surfers maintain a narrow channel with a water depth of 30-40 centimeters, which allows you to fly across the water at speeds of up to 100 km/h. It's dangerous, but also absolutely unique. Every fall, windsurfers who want to break the world record in speed windsurfing gather here.
Here, resourceful speed surfers maintain a narrow channel with a water depth of 30-40 centimeters, which allows you to fly across the water at speeds of up to 100 km/h. It's dangerous, but also absolutely unique. Every fall, windsurfers who want to break the world record in speed windsurfing gather here.
Our Wind Lounge team rider Nils Bach recently took on this very challenge. The trip, which cost an incredible amount of nerves (and euros), began with a flight to Africa. Of course, he brought along several windsurf boards, sails, masts, Booms, speed fins, and accessories. Fun fact: transporting the luggage by plane alone cost several thousand euros.
Once in Africa, it was then a detour of many hundreds of kilometers through the desert to finally arrive in Lüderitz. Nils took four weeks to achieve an official rating on the canal. Why did he need four weeks? Well, even in Lüderitz, the wind does what it wants. For the first two weeks, he could only go out on the water when there were minimal winds, which was hardly enough for record attempts. In addition, Nils came down with a bad cold and was laid up for a while.
Eventually, however, the wind picked up and Nils was able to beat his own best times again and again. He is still a long way from the world record, but at least a little closer. No one can take away the experience of windsurfing at well over 80 km/h on a narrow channel. The club of desert speed surfers is small and exclusive – which makes us all the more delighted about Nils' detailed report.
For details and precise information about the trip, the channel, and of course the equipment, we recommend the video series produced by Nils on YouTube. We are proud to have supported Nils on his journey and hope that he will return to Lüderitz in the coming years. Then the mission will be to break the 50-knot barrier and enter the top 10 fastest windsurfers!
