World Record for the distance covered on a windsurfing board by an unsighted person

The End-of-the-World Record

It happened in Dakhla, Morocco, from the 16th to the 23rd January : Olivier Brisse established the World Record for the distance covered on a windsurfing board by an unsighted person, with a distance of 1.1 km. Not content with establishing this record, he gave us another one (and a considerable one at that) by achieving a speed of 43.7 km/hour! This would be some performance even for a sighted person; for an unsighted person it’s nothing short of an exploit!

Thursday 22nd January was the most productive day : that day, with a wind speed of 40 knots, Olivier Brisse established his world record. The bay of Dakhla, in Morocco, is the new hot-spot for windsurfers and kitesurfers. A steady wind and a calm stretch of water allowed Olivier, accompanied by his coach Pierre Duvinage, to attempt the record after some time spent practising.

The whole event was well-organised: when Olivier fell off his surfboard, a member of the Kite Xperience team went to get him with his kitesurf, and then he was brought back to dry land in the motorboat belonging to the Moroccan Royal Navy, while Pierre Duvinage picked up the surfboard.

The whole event was not only an exploit, but a real human adventure for all the members of the team. They spent a week in Dakhla : a week of sport and of thrills, but also with its moments of doubt. Two days without any wind and a swollen ankle didn’t discourage Olivier, who went off to beat his records in a very strong wind, limping in the sand.

Windsurf and blindness are usually two worlds which don’t overlap. And yet, the event created a real buzz among surfers. The whole week’s events were relayed on the internet, and many surfers turned up to support Olivier.