Speed Sailing: America Rules the Waves (for now!)
The next time you're in a car going 60 mph (97 kph), assuming it's safe to do so, stick your head out the window. Now, imagine going this fast while riding a tiny piece of foam and plastic over about a foot of water in some windswept trench on the African Coast, while simultaneously holding onto a massive kite that wants to do nothing less than rip your arms right out of their sockets. Sound tough? Well, now consider stepping out of the car! Because that's what it's like when things go wrong in the ultimate speed sailing challenge. That's right - nobody said being the fastest in the world was easy, but at least once you've earned the title, you'd expect your countrymen and peers in sport to cheer your incredible feat, wouldn't you? Well, countrymen and peers?
Surprisingly, not a lot of people know who Rob Douglas is. Among kite boarders (or is it kitesurfers?), his name may be uttered in whispered tones of awe, but among the general population, and even sailors, this American who holds the world speed sailing record over 500 meters is sort of, well, unknown. The first time he won the world record, he only held it for two weeks, not long enough to even make it home with the title. Last fall, he took it back and has held it since, but the tickertape parades and Presidential handshake have yet to materialize for this master of the waves. Get kicked off of a reality TV show and you're a celebrity, earn the world record in your sport and they still want to see your ID to cash a check. Such is the nature of fame.
Then again, Rob Douglas didn't do this for fame, or fortune. A lifelong sailor then in his early thirties, Douglas gave kiteboarding a try, and he found what he saw as sailing in its simplest, most austere form. Less than a decade later, and he's the fastest person under sail, and has made the tiny little kiteboard the world's fastest wind-powered watercraft yet again. Quite revolutionary considering his family is into big boats, and rather independent to boot. And who better to salute this Fourth of July than a Revolutionary and Independent American sailor? Ladies and Gentlemen, we salute Rob ("Yankee Doodle") Douglas as our latest Sailor in the Spotlight .
YachtPals: First of all: Congratulations on being the fastest person under sail , quite a accomplishment!
Rob: "I do, yeah. It's a small boat, but nonetheless it's on the water. You can go from point A to point B, and it's driven by its sail. To me it's the ultimate small sailing vessel, and I was really excited to be able to set a world record and take kiting on the world stage in 2008, and then to be able to come back and do it again in 2010 and hold it for a little bit longer than I did is a great accomplishment for myself personally.
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But when you start doing 55/56/57/58 knot max's you haven't been there before, so it's new, the pressures are increased - they're not linear of course, they go up multiples! YachtPals: It's pretty incredible watching you stand up to that pressure,
Nice punt from Donnie Jones, and rookie Max Komar begins a second half run of dropsies on the punt. Immediately falls on it, though. The rest of the second half from the week 1 meeting between the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals after the jump.
Love the way the T-800 outsmarts the TX by attaching the truck's winch to the manhole causing the truck to flip over. Also love the way Amsoil turns this into an ad for Diesel products. In this supernatural film series, people don't die, and then they
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