The
Saintes Maries de la Mer Speed Canal, known to
windsurfersWindsurfing is a surface water sport using a windsurf board usually two to four meters long and powered by the effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a mast, wishbone boom and sail...
as
The Canal, is a man-made trench near the
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
MediterraneanThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
coastal town
Saintes Maries de la MerSaintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is the capital of the Camargue in the south of France. It is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department by the Mediterranean Sea. Population: 2,478...
, built especially for speed record breaking sailing by windsurfers.
The
Saintes Maries de la Mer Speed Canal, known to
windsurfersWindsurfing is a surface water sport using a windsurf board usually two to four meters long and powered by the effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a mast, wishbone boom and sail...
as
The Canal, is a man-made trench near the
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
MediterraneanThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
coastal town
Saintes Maries de la MerSaintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is the capital of the Camargue in the south of France. It is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department by the Mediterranean Sea. Population: 2,478...
, built especially for speed record breaking sailing by windsurfers.
The Canal, also called
The French Trench by the
English-speakingEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
community of Windsurfers, is 1,100 meters long and 30 meters wide, in a West-Northwest/East-Southeast orientation planned to take advantage of the
MarinThe Marin is a warm, moist wind in the Gulf of Lion of France, blowing from the southeast or south-southeast onto the coast of Languedoc and Roussillon. It brings rain to this region which it has picked up crossing the Mediterranean, and also can bring coastal fog...
and
MistralThe mistral is a strong, cold and usually dry regional wind in France, coming from the north, which accelerates when it passes through the valleys of the Rhone and the Durance Rivers to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea around in the Camargue region. It affects the northeast of the plain of...
winds that blow in that location.
Three consecutive Outright Speed Sailing Records, measured on a 500 meter course, were set on The Canal by windsurfers in 2004, 2005 and 2008:
- 49.09 knots (90.91 Km/h - 56.49 mph) by French
French people can refer to:* The legal residents and citizens of France, regardless of ancestry. For a legal discussion, see French nationality law.* People whose ancestors lived in France or the area that later became France....
windsurfer Antoine AlbeauAntoine Albeau is a French windsurfer who holds eleven Windsurfing World Championships in different disciplines since 1994.Born on June 17, 1972 in La Rochelle, France, Albeau set a new all–category world windpowered sailing speed record on March 5 , 2008 with 49.09 knots on a 500 meter course at...
, in March 2008.
- The previous two records were held by the Irish
Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
born windsurfer Finian MaynardFinian Maynard is a six-time speed windsurfing world champion and held the absolute 500m sailing speed record for sailing vessels from late 2004 until early 2008....
, who competes for the British Virgin IslandsThe British Virgin Islands is a British overseas territory, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S. Virgin Islands...
, also on The Canal:
- A 48.70 knots record set on 10th April 2005,
- A 46.82 knots record (24.08 m/s or 53.88 mph) set on the 13th November 2004.
In October 2008, The Canal's leading position on the world sailing map was taken by the
Lüderitz Speed ChallengeThe Lüderitz Speed Challenge is an annual speed sailing event, held since 2007 in Lüderitz, Namibia, in the southern hemisphere spring. The event is organised by ESF Events, managed and owned by Frederic Dasse and French kitesurfer Sebastien Cattelan, and is observed by the World Sailing Speed...
in
NamibiaNamibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in Southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south and east...
, when the "holy grail" 50-knot barrier of speed sailing was first broken by a kitesurfer.