Kitesurfer Tilmann Heinig
The Kiel speed surfer Tilmann Heinig used Hurricane Kyrill for high-speed runs with his kitboard. Before Westerhever on the North Sea, he achieved a maximum speed of 52.9 knots last week, according to GPS software.
A video shows the 46-year-old running in front of the Westerhever lighthouse. to the youtube page
With wind speeds of up to 46 knots, he achieved an average speed of 49.7 knots over 250 meters. The absolute world record of surfer Finian Maynard over 500 meters is 48.7. However, Heinig only managed 46.2 knots over this distance.
“I'm a little disappointed about that,” he writes on the Speed homepage. “It was probably due to the stakes in the water that I had to pass at the beginning. I was probably a little too scared."
That's why he believes that the kiteboard's potential for speed records is even higher. “It felt like ice skating. When I was the fastest, I hardly had any pull on the kite. 10 or 15 knots more wind would not have been a problem. That's why I don't see any limit. The only limit is the head …"
However, these records have no chance of being officially held. The World Sailing Speed Record Council does not recognize this type of GPS timing. But Heinig doesn't care. He now knows that he is the fastest. And that's enough for him.
“Surfing, especially speed surfing, got me high; I was in a state of permanent ecstasy,”he wrote in FreeMagazin about his beginnings with fast surfing.
The fact that kite surfers could actually be the first to crack the 50 knots mark over the 500 meter distance is also supported by the performance of Frenchman Alex Caizergues. He also recently achieved a top speed of 50.7 knots