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Oisin Van Gelderen is November “Sailor of the Month”

2nd December 2018
Oisin van Gelderen performing in the Luderitz Speed Canal. As it’s on the edge of the desert, the air is exceptionally dry, and though anemometers may be recording winds of Force 9, they don’t exert the same destructive pressure as a dense-aired Force 9 in Ireland’s damp climate Oisin van Gelderen performing in the Luderitz Speed Canal. As it’s on the edge of the desert, the air is exceptionally dry, and though anemometers may be recording winds of Force 9, they don’t exert the same destructive pressure as a dense-aired Force 9 in Ireland’s damp climate Credit: Stefan Csaky  

Oisin van Gelderen is the Afloat.ie/Irish Sailing “Sailor of the Month” for November after twice breaking the Irish sailing speed record at the three week Luderitz World Speed Sailing Challenge in Namibia.

The veteran National Windsurfing Champion from Loughshinny in Fingal opened the Luderitz series by pushing his own (and Ireland’s) best recorded speed up to 46.21 knots (85.6 kph) after briefly recording a 50-knot burst in Force 9 winds, the first Irish sailor ever to do so. But with even stronger winds as the series progressed, he finally came home with a new best Irish speed of 47.97 knots (88.85kph) over the timed distance of 500 metres.

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