Want to test your top speed against the rest of the UK? NWF are launching and supporting the brand new British Speed Ladder, which will kick off at this year’s event in just a few weeks time. All the details from the team below…
The 2015/16 British GPS Speed Ladder is to be sponsored by The NWF (National Watersports Festival). The event will start from the 4th of September 2015 which is the beginning of the Festival on Hayling Island and will run until the Saturday of NWF event in September 2016.
Based on your fastest 250m run during the year and only on sessions from UK waters. All British sailors using GPS Speedsurfing site will be automatically entered and there will be an annual trophy and prizes. So at any windy day you can set out with your GPS at your favourite speed spot, which could be on the sea or your local lake and set your own personal record. Then upload you session to see how you did against the rest of the UK.
You will be able view your ranking on www.gps-speedsurfing.com and the NWF website http://nationalwatersportsfestival.com/event-info this will rank and update the fastest in the UK, as the year progresses. The spot prizes will be drawn randomly on the Saturday of the NWF event the following year out of ALL posts submitted. So the more times you post a speed the better chance you have of winning. As well as crowning the Top GPS speed sailors of the year with categories for Men, Women under 16 and Masters (over45)?
NWF Speed Facebook page
To help promote the British ladder there will be a NWF facebook page for speedsailing here in the UK. There you can suggest a day or place that you think would be good to get a great speed and hook up with other speed freaks. This way you can log in and check if anyone else is up for a session on a speed strip and with a given venue with the right wind conditions to set the highest speeds who knows what you could achieve? The top sites include premier spots such as West Kirby, The Ray Southend, Weymouth and Daymer Bay. But any venue will be included if the competitors want it. Flat speed sailing conditions are great but not imperative. 40 knot plus runs are great but 30 knot averages are just as impressive in choppy conditions at your local lake. This is hopefully a system that will give great wind conditions for your sessions.
Rules
Video timing equipment is not used. Only hand held gps units are used. This enables sessions be made at very short notice. The main unit used is the Navi GT31. But other older units like the Garmin Foretrek, Forerunner and Geko are still acceptable but may not as accurate.
The rules are based on the rules dictated by gps-speedsurfing. And it will be based on your fastest 250 m run. The GPS units must record at a minimum of two second time intervals. The GPS tracks are up-loaded to a computer and speeds are calculated on gps software such as the free to use gps action replay or highly recommended GPS Results (free for 30 days then 29 Euros Downloadable from the website www.gps-speed.com ). Each competitor will then post his or her time on gps-speedsurfing and clicking NWF British Speed Championship as the event. The results will then automatically appear on the NWF homepage and on the Speedsurfing NWF British ranking page.
Windsurfing Equipment
Any equipment is allowed. It’s not only speed boards that are quick. A wave board attained an average of 40 knots at Sandy Point in Australia. So speed or slalom boards are not a must. There has never been a better time to try out your speed skills, gain some bragging rights over your mates and win some great prizes.
