Laser / Laser Speed Record / Uncategorized

Ben Flower Breaks Laser Speed Record – 18.6 Knots!

Who – Ben Flower
Where – Penzance Sailing Club, Cornwall, Great Britain
When – November 12th, 2017
How…

   Sailing fast!Flower's Laser Record

“Going full speed in a Laser is incredible, when you’re right at the back of the boat as far back as you can get and the boat is just skipping over the little waves caused by the wind is amazing.”
~Ben Flower

The Event:  A few early birds arrived at 8:30 the South West Sailing Winter Series and were greeted with white water in Mounts Bay and winds gusting offshore at over 35kt. There was discussion over abandonment, but the wind seemed to drop a little and 11 sailors ventured out into the harbor.

What Witness SawIt was seriously breezy day in Penzance, Cornwall (UK) with the NNW wind blowing in at 25-45 knots. The offshore direction of the wind made no waves in the bay. Sailing Southwest recorded live GPS data on all the boats, using Queclink GL300 devices known to be very accurate, recording at 5 second intervals. There were a few very good sailors out on the water, including Ben Flower, a British Youth Squad Laser sailor. During his first reach from the start line, Ben clocked a speed of 18.6 knots on his tracker.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Ben Flower’s Perspective: Personally, it was never a goal to try and break the record, only found out about the record after the event. I enjoy going out in windy weather, especially when people tell me not to! So when there was an event in winds averaging 30 knots it felt quite normal for me, with the wind coming offshore there weren’t many waves to surf so it was just about sailing the shortest distance to the mark. As I was going down to the first mark the safety boat was alongside trying to get to a capsized Enterprise. I casually waved at the safety boat and went into the gybe mark and attempted the gybe, didn’t quite work on the first time but the two attempts after worked well. Going full speed in a Laser is incredible, when your right at the back of the boat as far back as you can get and the boat is just skipping over the little waves caused by the wind is amazing. Now I’ve set a benchmark for myself to try and beat some other time!

Ben crushed the old record set on January 16, 2009 by Mark Denzer in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Contact Ben Flower at https://www.facebook.com/benflowersailing/
Email: benjamin.flower@talktalk.net

The Laser Speed Challenge: If you want to beat the Laser Speed Record, find some flat water, take an accurate GPS, get three reputable witnesses and go for it. Contact Shoreline Sailboats with your sailing exploits, or to get your very own record-setting Laser:

Shoreline Sailboats – Laser Product Page