French Trench
Coordinates: 43°27′39″N 4°27′52″E / 43.460972°N 4.464355°E
The Saintes Maries de la Mer Speed Canal, known to windsurfers as The Canal, is a man-made trench near the French Mediterranean coastal town Saintes Maries de la Mer, built especially for speed record-breaking sailing by windsurfers.
The Canal, also called The French Trench by the English-speaking community of Windsurfers, is 1,100 metres long and 30 metres wide, in a West-Northwest/East-Southeast orientation designed to take advantage of the Marin and Mistral winds that blow in that location.
Three consecutive Outright Speed Sailing Records, measured on a 500-metre course, were set on The Canal by windsurfers in 2004, 2005 and 2008:
In October 2008, The Canal's leading position on the world sailing map was taken by the Lüderitz Speed Challenge in Namibia, when the "holy grail" 50-knot barrier of speed sailing was first broken by a kitesurfer.
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