British Catamaran Skippers Sent Back to Drawing Boards by a Fleet Band of Wind Surfers : Boardsailors Skim World Speed Record

They dubbed themselves the Crossbow Killers and proceeded to the blustery waters of Fuerteventura, an island in the Canary chain. Once there, they accomplished their mission.

During a week in mid-July, this group of mariners--armed not with crossbows, but with sailboards--ended the six-year reign of Crossbow, a 60-foot British catamaran. Crossbow had been the fastest sailing vessel in the world.

Conditions were ideal at Fuerteventura when about fifty boardsailors from various parts of the world gathered for the assault on the speed record. The wind was strong and the ocean smooth, and four of the boardsailors, led by Frenchman Pascal Maka, 29, were fast enough to beat Crossbow’s record of 36.08 knots set in November of 1980 at the annual Weymouth speed trials in England.

Maka sailed the 500-meter course at Fuerteventura at a speed of 38.86 knots, about 45 m.p.h. He exceeded 30 knots on every run, the only person to do so.

The others who were able to surpass Crossbow’s speed in the 35-40 knot winds that whipped across the bay at Fuerteventura were Erik Beale of Beverly Hills, and Jimmy Lewis and Fred Haywood, both of Maui. Beale, 22, was second fastest, sailing the course at 36.71 knots. Lewis, 35, had a speed of 36.30 and Haywood, 36, an NCAA swimming champion at Stanford in 1971, one of 36.13.

Apparently, the sailboard has become a dominant force in speed sailing.

“We have certainly stirred up the sailing Establishment,” Beale said by phone the other day.

But the boardsailors expect renewed competition from the traditional boat sailors. “They don’t think of us as being proper boaters, you see,” Beale said. “We’ll start getting some interesting racing between us and the big boats. Also, we’re going to see the boats coming after us. I think we’ll see Crossbow come out of retirement and maybe some other boats.”

Beale is partly right. The boat sailors are interested in regaining the speed mark, but not with old equipment. A new Crossbow is currently being outfitted for the express task of reclaiming the record.

“When Crossbow went 36 knots in 1980, it was well before windsurfers were really in the picture,” said Carol Jopling of the speed division of the Royal Yachting Assn. in London. “Perhaps Pascal’s run will boost enthusiasm on the part of the yachtsmen to try to break that record.”

Said Haywood: “This is probably the best thing to happen to the yachting world, next to the America’s Cup. They’ll all be talking about it, that they’re in second position now. I suspect they’ll come back with a new fever and we’ll see some new boats coming into the field of speed sailing.

“We’ve always felt a little snubbed by the people who’ve invested hundreds of thousands of dollars, and we pull up in our jalopies and sail circles around them,” Haywood said. “I presume they’ll sharpen their keels, and we’ll sharpen our fins.”

If that’s the case, this year’s Weymouth speed trials in November should be interesting.

Boardsailors have been picking up their pace since the invention of the the sailboard by Hoyle Schweitzer in 1968. For example, in 1982 at the Weymouth speed trials Maka was the fastest at 27.82 knots. In 1983 Haywood became the first to break the 30-knot barrier, sailing the Weymouth course at 30.82 knots. With better technical knowledge, indications point to speeds of more than 40 knots in the near future.

“I’m pretty confident that (Maka’s) record will be broken by 10 people next year,” Beale said. “People will duplicate our equipment. . . . I think it’s conceivable that maybe sometime in the future we can do 50 knots in 50-knot winds. My aim is to try to go 45 knots next year.”

Maka concurred. “I can say I’m almost at 39 knots now,” he said. “I think next year, with the right conditions, a strong wind and flat course, I’m sure we can run at 45 knots.”

But will that be fast enough to hold off the yachtsmen?

When Crossbow ran at 36.08 knots in 1980, the wind was blowing at just 30 knots. That same day, Crossbow also had a 40-knot run, but it was outside the course and therefore unofficial. And the new Crossbow will be state of the art, casting some doubt on how long the boardsailors can reign.

“I think Crossbow will take the record back,” Lewis said. But he added that any record set will be merely a temporary one, with Maka a heavy favorite among the threats. “He’ll be one of the first to break it (his own record).”

Boardsailors are going faster these days because of better board and sail design.

“During the Weymouth speed trials in 1985, we had the equipment to do maybe 33-34 knots in ideal conditions,” Beale said.

“Since then, there’s been two evolutions of equipment, so that at the beginning of 1986 I became convinced that we could get up close to the record. Then we went out to the Canary Islands and had absolutely ideal conditions, and that’s what really made it possible.”

Over the years the boards used for speed have become thinner and lighter. They now are 12-14 inches wide and weigh about seven pounds. Also partly responsible for the higher speeds is the invention of what is called a camber inducer by Jeff Magnan of Dana Point. It holds the leading edge of the sail stable and makes for a smoother ride in strong winds.

“It has totally revolutionized sail design,” said Guy Leroux, assistant editor of Wind Surf magazine. “Never before have sails been so efficient.” Among the four boardsailors who beat Crossbow’s record, only Haywood uses a conventional sail, and he has done well with it.

“I’m happy with my equipment and results,” he said. “And I know I can go faster. I’m gonna prove to ‘em by the end of the year that you don’t need a camber induced sail to go fast.”

Said Lewis: “Fred’s dreaming. He was always 10% or 15% better than me, but I beat him the last two times we raced with a camber induced sail. He doesn’t want to give the camber inducer any credit but all the top riders and practically everyone else uses them, and everyone can’t be wrong.”

Lewis should know something about design. He shaped all four of the boards used to beat Crossbow’s record and also shapes for most of the world’s best boardsailors.

In any event, it seems certain that equipment will continue to improve and that boardsailors’ speeds will increase, possibly dramatically.

“There’s a big difference between 30 knots and when you start pushing 40 knots,” Beale said. “Basically you’re traveling about 60 feet per second, so when you come off the board, the consequences are becoming pretty dramatic.”

Beale fell shortly after his second-place ride and displaced 10 of the vertebrae in his back.

“I fell doing 36-plus knots and basically, I got catapulted by the sail over the front of the board and I hit the water and stopped dead.”

But, as he put it: “When you’re in the game, you play it.”