The canal closes its doors: Interview with Christophe Simian

After 5 long months and 4 official speed record attempts, the Masters of Speed 2007/2008 paid its final respects on the 5th April, boasting a new world record for a production board, but also, and more importantly, a new all-category world water sail speed record … Official timekeeper but also the chief conductor of the infamous speed canal, Christophe Simian takes time out to talk about the net result of the event, even if the 50 knot target remains unbeaten !

Windsurfjournal.com : The Masters of Speed has just ended, has it been the best running of the event since its inception ?
Christophe Simian : No, not necessarily, it’s left me with mixed feelings… I was very disappointed by the women’s performances, they just didn’t dare risk it ! That’s a big shame because it was a great opportunity for windsurfing to grab back Sjoukje Bredenkamp’s record ! And we didn’t manage to break 50 knots ! Despite Antoine Albeau’s gigantic achievement I still come away feeling like it’s a job not quite done, I know that with more work and more money we could have given the riders an even better water surface to work on. In the end it was a good result, specially regarding media coverage, where for once we got a full house.

WJ : So, windsurfing hands over the relay to the Hydroptere and our kitesurfer friends for their own attempts, how do you feel about that ?
CS : I wish them the best of luck ! We’re happy to hand the speed record sailing torch on because we’re exhausted ! That leaves Alexandre Caizergues and the guys from the Hydroptere… It’s a beautiful and magical boat, it’s certainly made us dream, don’t forget that Fabrice David, my right hand man, and I come from the world of ocean racing, not windsurfing !And then I’d ask them to respect the work we’ve done here ! To organize their attempts with the same rigour we did ours, respecting the true rules ! And that all the riders and pilots involved in the next series of attempts make sure they’re fully within the rules ! It’ll make any “records” all the more beautiful and I’ll be the first to applaud them ! The 50 knot mark is too important to take it lightly. And don’t forget either that it’s the average speed over 500 metres not just a spot time at one moment. The mobile GPS has sadly shown itself, during the Southend event for instance, to be totally unreliable. For the time being only the Hydroptere’s GPS Trimble has the necessary reliability and precision.

WJ : Is there one big memory you’ll take away from the MOS 2007/2008 ?
CS : I’ve got 3 big memories : the first one is Albeau’s fall on March 5th, I was at the start line on the canal edge, he was going really fast at about 49.90 past the start camera ! I was really worried for him because it was a violent impact ! After that there was that really violent sea on the 20th November that carried me 100 metres up the beach while I was out there in the middle of the night. And then there was Albeau’s record, 49.09 knots, that was something to witness !!!

WJ : The last few hundredths seem to be the most difficult, do you think the 50 knot mark is as close as everyone seems to believe ?
CS : Yes, we’re really not that far away, it’s all down to the fine details. Albeau made his run but with quite a bit of damage to the northern canal edge after the two big south easterly storms we had in November and January. The edge wasn’t perfectly straight ! That may have cost us 1 or 2 tenths of a second. But the 50 knots is very close, we touched it with the tips of our fingers on 5th March, we really weren’t very far short. A shame for us and good for the others, that’s how it is !
WJ : Does the new world speed record on 5th March mean that the speed canal is more than ever the "ultimate weapon" for record beating ?
CS : Yes, it’s still the best place for breaking records, but only for windsurfers ! Don’t forget, the kitesurfers aren’t far behind now and climbing fast. And the Hydroptere is a very serious project ! Either of them could end up sending the speed canal to the maritime museum ! Only the future can tell us who and what is capable of beating Antoine’s record !

WJ : What are your future projects, might there be another MOS session in 2008/2009 ?
CS : We’re all completely exhausted after this long and tiring session ! We haven’t stopped working on the canal all the 5 months it’s been going, it’s a big thing to manage with lots of unforeseens etc… Now it’s all over, and a good thing too ! As for the future, we’ll se about that in a month or two, enough time to recover anyhow. But why not, if we can put together another project with the same team ! I’d like to thank Windsurfjournal.com for its support, likewise Wind mag, Planchmag and all the other specialist magazines that have followed the Masters of Speed… Without them we’d never have had the energy to go the extra mile it took !

Interview by www.windsurfjournal.com

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