Langebaan Downwind Dash 2008

Langebaan is a seaside village about an hour drive north of Cape Town . It is surrounded by crystal clear lagoons providing awesome flat water conditions for kiters and windsurfers. Every January this picturesque village hosts the Downwind Dash; a race of 17km straight downwind from the main beach to Saldanha Sailing Club. This year 216 turned out; 158 kites and 58 windsurfers battling in the 25-30knots wind. No surprise that only 151 sailors finished in the carnage!

In fact JP shaper Werner Gnigler, had (in his words) the scariest moment of his windsurfing career when he got tangled up in some kite lines after the kite ditched right in front of him. With the lines wrapped around his ankle and the kite looking like it was about to re-launch itself, Werner managed to get free and carried on with the race. Phew!

Werner safely ashore!

Oisin Van Gelderen had no such life/death experiences although at one point in the video you do see him jumping over a set of kite lines in the water, and fair play he did the whole thing with a head cam and backpack attached! So sit back and enjoy the highlights of the Langebaan Downwind Dash from the comfort of your armchair!

If you fancy entering the 2009 Dash, then just turn up at the beach in Langebaan, exact date to be confirmed but it’s always mid-January, rig whatever you have (wave/freeride/slalom) and off you go!

Thanks to Oisin for wearing the head cam!