Even though the Großer Woog is a beautiful lake in the heart of Darmstadt, Germany, the city has never been known as a hotspot for windsurfers. Until now. Because Darmstadt is home to Rohacryl structural foam – a core component of a windsurf board that may soon make history.
The goal of Project Zephir is to bring the world speed record for wind‑powered watercraft back to the windsurfers. They held it for many years; the last time was in 2008, when Antoine Albeau reached 49.09 knots – the equivalent of 56.5 mph. Two years later, American Rob Douglas set a new speed record with a kiteboard at 55.65 knots (64.04 mph). Another two years after that, the record passed to the “Vestas Sailrocket 2,” a specialized sailboat that established the still‑standing top speed of 65.45 knots (75.32). And now Antoine Albeau wants his record back.
Found: The Man Built for Records
It’s obvious that this can’t be done with anything close to off‑the‑shelf materials. After all, Albeau needs to exceed his own previous mark by roughly 18.6 mph. And not inside an aerodynamically optimized boat hull – but standing on a surfboard, steering the sail by hand. In short: he needed a partner with deep experience in this arena. He found one in Marc Amerigo, a French engineer, entrepreneur, and high‑performance specialist for extreme sports. As a technical director, he has already contributed to nine world speed records – including on a mountain bike (141.7 mph with Eric Barone) and on a snowboard (126.14 mph with Edmond Plawczyk) – and he holds 14 patents.
Antoine Albeau and Marc Amerigo founded Project Zephir in 2020. But “just” setting a world record wasn’t enough for them. The windsurf board had to be sustainable and fully recyclable as well. The board now being showcased at JEC 2026 in Paris is the first prototype. “We’ve built an amazing prototype we can truly be proud of,” says Marc Amerigo. “It wasn’t easy – this is already a big deal.” Inside this “big deal” is Evonik’s Rohacryl, produced in Darmstadt, Germany.
A windsurf board typically consists of a complex structure made of many layers of materials that together deliver lightness and high performance. The concept behind the demonstrator shown at the Paris trade fair is different. “We address circularity by reducing the number of materials while making sure that they are compatible and can be recycled without any loss of performance,” explains Amerigo.
The fibers come from recycled boats, hydrogen tanks, and even aircraft components. They are processed together with a recyclable thermoplastic resin matrix made bei Arkema, and the board’s core is made from Evonik’s Rohacryl, another fully recyclable thermoplastic. As a result, this board is not just recyclable — it is circular, meaning its materials can be recycled and reused without any loss of properties, and for the very same applications.
Made for Peak Performance
Rohacryl is perfectly suited for peak performance because it is typically used wherever high performance is essential. It is a structural foam that combines high strength and stiffness with extremely low weight. This enables ultralight sandwich constructions. At the same time, its fine, isotropic cell structure reduces resin uptake and supports efficient, automated processing at high temperatures. And it fits perfectly with the Zephir project because it is based on recyclable raw materials – offering a sustainable, low‑carbon solution.
The other industry partners Amerigo brought into the project are also familiar with the material from earlier collaborative work on the board. One of them is the French company Arkema, headquartered not far from the JEC venue in La Défense. The global group serves future‑oriented markets such as adhesives, high‑performance materials, and coating solutions, and is active in materials for boatbuilding.
In the prototype board, Rohacryl is combined with a fully recyclable acrylic resin from Arkema. The shell consists of carbon fibers supplied by the French company Alpha Recyclage Composites, which manages to make reclaimed carbon fibers just as strong as new ones. In total, 23 companies contributed to the prototype.
This first model is essentially the big brother of the final board intended for the record attempt. “We built it very conservatively,” Amerigo explains. “It’s meant to be robust and to give us data. The next models will get thinner and lighter – until we reach the absolute limit.” He won’t reveal the weight: “No one shares that when it comes to record models.” Only that there is still a substantial percentage drop from the current prototype to come.
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The next step is for windsurfer Antoine Albeau to get a feel for the new board. But no professional team today relies on feel alone. Zephir is supported by ALTEN, one of the world’s largest engineering and technology consulting firms, based in Boulogne‑Billancourt, France. ALTEN integrates measurement electronics into the board, performs detailed measurements of the athlete, and repeatedly places Antoine Albeau – along with a simulated board – in the wind tunnel. With success: the former world record holder has already set a new windsurfing record on a test board, clearly surpassing his 2008 mark. He reached 53.49 knots (61.55 mph), significantly topping his previous best.
On the Way to the Record
It’s not yet known when the attempt for the official record will take place. The current record holder needed ten years to reach 65.45 knots. Only the location is already fixed, as always: the 800‑meter Lüderitz Speed Canal in Namibia. It was created to give windsurfers and kiteboarders an extremely fast, controlled, and reliably windy course, as the bay near Lüderitz offers consistently strong winds ideal for record attempts. The narrow, man‑made, low‑chop canal allows much higher speeds than open water, enabling numerous national and international speed records since 2007. The current record was also set there.
But is all this effort worth it just to break a record? “No,” says Marc Amerigo clearly. “We chose windsurfing because the board is small and we were able to bring the world’s best athlete on board. What we really want is to showcase the innovation behind it. It’s a proof of concept that will later be used in other applications.” Potential uses extend far beyond watercraft – including rotor blades, where weight and material reusability are key focus areas today.
