LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- The international race among sailors , kite surfers and wind surfers to be the fastest wind-powered boat on the planet is rapidly gaining momentum as speeds reach all-time highs . Quick sailor : French trimaran l'Hydroptere is one of the boats battling for the outright world sailing speed record . The outright world sailing speed record -- which did not change hands for 11 years after 1993 -- has been bettered four times this year alone . The new holder of the record , Alexandre Caizergues , of France , claimed it with an average speed of 50.57 knots ( almost 60 miles per hour ) over 500 meters on his kite board off the coast of Namibia last month . Caizergues ' attempt was eventually ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council ( WSSRC ) this month , when it was decided that kite boards would be eligible for the outright record . Meanwhile , another Frenchman , Alain Thebault , has also been closely challenging for the record on his vessel l'Hydroptere . Thebault 's crew hold the 500m speed record in the boat class , and also have the overall speed record in the one nautical mile category . Then there is the Australian sailor hoping to spoil the party for the French . Paul Larsen , aboard British yacht Vestas SailRocket , has unofficially nabbed the fastest boat record from l'Hydroptere with an average speed of 47.4 knots . Larsen achieved the speed in 22 knot winds , and shortly before his unusual `` boat '' became airborne and flipped . Larsen 's speed is just awaiting formal approval from the WSSRC . Thebault held the record with a speed of 46.88 knots . Even the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race has had a speed record of its own with current leader Ericsson 4 claiming the world record for the most distance sailed in a 24-hour period during the event 's first leg . According to a spokesman from the WSSRC , interest in speed sailing is steadily building , and the close competition has been giving it a boost . `` Certainly towards the end of the year it 's been very hectic . I think what has happened is that a number of competitors have been at the top end and they have all been competing against each other at the same venues . The development of new technologies is one factor that has increased interest in trying to break these records . `` The fact that kite boards have developed has helped ... but there is still a lot of people out there that want to achieve these records , '' the spokesman said . He said that a lot of syndicates had been involved in speed sailing for some time , and that many were only now starting to feel the benefits of their developmental work . `` It does seem if you are going for a specially designed boat it takes a few years before you get the design right , '' he said . The spokesman said the WSSRC had received about 50 formal applications for speed attempts during 2008 . He said the council 's job was not to promote the attempts but simply to oversee them in a fair and independent manner and ratify successful efforts . The WSSRC had a number of commissioners based around the world , he said .
Kite boarder l'Hydroptere , of England , holds the world sailing speed record . WSSRC oversees and ratifies record attempts . The The World Sailing Speed Record Council had one formal applications for record attempts in 2008 .