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SPECIAL FEATURE: THE SWOOSHI have spent two years chasing this
dream and had been thwarted time
and time again. The fastest I have
ever achieved has been 40km/h
and never been able to achieve a
24-hour record. Was this trip, the
dream to chase 100km/h going to
come to naught as well?Ville and I decided that we would
attempt to reach the top lake
and set up our course there as it
would give me the best chance of
exceeding what I had previously
achieved.I was determined that this was
going to be the best opportunity
and as this attempt was going to be
a Guinness World Record attempt,
and I had to follow their guidelines.
This means I had to set a course
1000 metres in length that I could
ride into, with a maximum decline
of 6 degrees.After setting the course, I then
spent the next 7 hours riding into
and out of this course, with a tow
back to the start line with Ville.Around 6 pm, the wind started to
pick up again, and the opportunityto remaining in control and steer
the course, meant when I stopped
I grabbed for my iPhone, so I could
immediately download the data
from my Garmin Fenix 5.The results left me grinning from
ear to ear, 62km/h, making me the
fastest person to ever Snowsail.The best part of this had brought
my circle to a close. From the start
of the dream from 2014 to 2019
has been an amazing journey. The
documentary covering this journey
will be launched on the 17th of
August 2019. It will be free to
download from the website http://www.
theswooshsnowsailer.comNone of this journey would have
been possible without my amazing
band of sponsors, especially those
who have been with me from the
start.Please do visit these sponsors,
who are all listed on our sponsor’s
page. They are the companies that
make these journeys possible, and
I will be eternally grateful for their
ongoing support. I am also proud to
call all of them my friends.to do something amazing
presented itself on what happened
to be the last run of the day. To
be in a position to explain and
feel this shift in momentum is
something that I will never be
able to forget. People who I have
spoken to, who have experienced
similar events have said that when
it starts, it was almost as if it is
happening in slow motion.Sailing into the course for the
last time, I can remember a slight
wind shift followed by additional
pressure on the main sheet.
This was my time, and I knew it.
Sheeting in and bearing slightly
off on a broad reach, I immediately
felt a massive increase in speed.This was what I was looking for,
the chance to go faster than I
had ever been, and the feeling of
speed, being just 3 inches off the
ground was intense. I remember
bouncing on the Sastrugi and at
some stage even getting some air.Sitting this low to the ground gave
a ridiculous feeling of speed. Not
knowing how fast I was going due
to all my energy being devoted