Eric Diamond
Kitesurf Round the Isle of Wight
Fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support
Story
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!
And more importantly almost £4500 raised for Macmillan!
Thank you very much for all the generous donations.
I am very pleased to report I completed the challenge on Wednesday 5th October, kitesurfing tround the Isle of Wight in a time of 5 hours and 2 minutes. This would have put me in 7th place in this year's Round the Island Race which had similar winds and over 1500 yachts. Apart from a wipeout near the Needles which ended up with my kite inverted in the sky, which wasted about 20 minutes, it went perfectly. It was pretty rough though - one of the support crew was thrown from his RIB via the wind shield after hitting a big wave, but luckily no serious bodily harm was incurred!
The support boats struggled to keep up on the south side of the island as we were cruising at almost 30mph!
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In late September/early October I plan to attempt to kitesurf round the Isle of Wight in memory of Russ Parsons, a friend and colleague from GKN Aerospace who sadly passed away from cancer this year, and to raise as much money as possible for Macmillan Cancer Support. It's 55 miles around the island but with all the upwind tacks required the distance to be covered would be nearer 100 miles. Its has been attempted several times previously and only once completed by a kitesurfer, and that time in near perfect strong northerly winds.
The idea to kitesurf round the Isle of Wight came about one evening whilst I was extolling the virtues of kitesurfing to my boss, who bluntly lay down the gauntlet and said "well kitesurf round the Isle of Wight then". Having bragged about the sport, I felt little option but to take up the challenge!
To be successful there are a lot of factors that have to work on the day - firstly the wind needs to remain consistent and moderate to strong to ensure the kite stays flying and powered. Then there are the currents, particularly notorious in the Solent towards the Needles - it is imperative that you time it so the tides are working with you, not against you, in order to stand any chance of reaching the Needles. Finally there is the challenge of the endurance needed to keep kitesurfing for potentially 6 to 10 hours.
The Isle of Wight is famous for the "Round the Island" sailing race involving over 1500 sailing boats, I hope that I will be able to continue this fine sailing tradition by showing that this relatively new wind sport can compete in such a distance event.
I have been offered the kind services of 2 support boats - from Windstalkers, who teach kitesurfing on the Isle of Wight, and from Charles Smallman a local amateur photograher and RIB owner. The challenge of accompanying a kitesurfer all the way round the island on a RIB is also not to be underestimated!
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