Worldwide Kitesurfing Competition Comes to Luderitz

Luderitz has already been welcoming Speed Challenge competitors to the town in the last few weeks, in readiness for the exciting competiton. The competition will kick off on the first of November and last until the 28th of November. We are hoping to see records smashed, and many new kite surfers are here to challenge the reigning champions.
Sebastien Cattelan, the driving force behind the Lüderitz Speed Challenge, has just returned from a preparation and testing session where he once again exceeded 60 knots. He reached 61.77 knots last year just after the 2008 Challenge ended after the run was closed.
A chop-killer will be implemented at Luderitz Speed 2009. A chop killer is when wood is nailed to stilts in the water to reduce the current from hidden water flows, there are a lot of different currents in the second lagoon so a chop killer is put in place to make it slightly easier for the competitors.
Interest is starting to peak, with most of the top sailors from last year registered for the event, and a number of exciting new additions. We, as a town, also have a local competitor, 19 year old Steffan Metzger who is the only serious kite surfer in Luderitz. He will be helping set up the chop killer and keeping time during the competition so he is able to compete and get a reduction on the hefty European competing fees which are €700 per week, which works out at approximately N$7000. The organisers of the speed challenge wanted a local guy to compete, especially as there is only one other Namibian in the contest.
Luderitz is now considered the best place in the world for the Speed Challenge competition to be held, which we as a town should be very proud of.