
American speed sailor, Robbie Douglas, set a new world speed sailing record at the Prince of Speed event off the coast of LaPalme France, in the Mediterranean Sea June 10.
Douglas used his Flysurfer 7 meter kite, and Temavento prototype V55 speed board in the one-mile race setting the kite surfing record by averaging 39.04 knots, or 44.8 miles per hour, according to a press release shared with The Times.
Gusts in La Palme averaged 30-35 miles per hour. La Palme is considered by many to be the fastest open water in Europe, and the new record is Douglas’s third in speed sailing, he told The Times.
“On Saturday, I was alerted by event organizers that possible record conditions were forecasted for Monday, Saturday the eighth. I booked the 11:45 pm red eye to Barcelona via Istanbul, landed at midnight on Sunday, drove 3 hours east to the spot, made the skippers meeting at 8:30 am Monday morning and set the new world record at 10:29 am local time,” Douglas said.
Douglas thanked his team of sponsors, which included local names such as Edgartown resident Bill Lynch of Lynch Associates, and Black Dog Rum.