Kitesurfer Andrew, Poole, Dorset, UK

by Andrew Ward
(Poole, Dorset, UK)

Hi

I am a 33 year old kite surfer from Poole in Dorset UK. A few months ago I was asked if I could help raise money for a charity similar to that of Help for Heros and aimed at a UK military division the SBS (Special Boat Service). The charity really help soldiers who have been injured whist serving and help the families of those who have lost someone.

I pondered on this for a while and saw that some kite surfers in the UK were planning charity crossings near the Dover and Calais ports. I checked this out and did some research to find that this route is a world record of 2.5 hours to cross from Hythe,Kent,Uk to Wissant France achieved in 1999 by 3 kite surfers (Flexifoil). I also heard that world pro Windsurfer Guy Cribb crossed from Cherbourg, France to Poole, England (approx. 70 nautical miles) in October 2008 in under 6 hours by windsurf in a storm.

I researched other long distance world record kite surf crossings and found a few such as Andreya Wharry, who kite surfed a total of 115.4 nautical miles (132.71 statute miles) in eight hours and six minutes from Watergate Bay in Cornwall, to Dungarvan, County Waterford, Ireland and also Al Crisp and Rupert Tildesley became the first men ever to kitesurf across the Irish Sea. Their Crossing was the first to make a land to land passage from Ireland to Wales without intervention from the support boatin September 2007.

With this in mind I set myself a charity challenge to kite surf from Cherbourg to Poole. I went about my planning and have come to realize that the French Authorities do not look kindly to us Eccentric English folk attempting to cross the channel in extreme fashion and can fine/arrest us if seen and caught. With this in mind I decided to change the launch to Alderney which is only slightly west of Cherbourg by about 27 miles and the overall distance from Cherbourg to Poole compared to Alderney to Poole is a mile or 2. For the last 3 months I have been busy making a website with my girlfriend all about this and planning all aspects of the crossing from logistics to a full support team and safety protocol to follow covering every eventuality. Our local coastguard has been a fountain of knowledge and has declared himself our official advisor for the crossing planned for September this year. I am currently planning to do the crossing on my own but would share this with a pro kite surfer to help raise the profile of this challenge.
I will of course share the story with you all on here afterwards and link in any reports/news reports.
If you would like to know more about this challenge or would be interested in making a donation/ or sponsor me, please visit

www.kitethechannel.co.uk

Thanks for taking the time to read my story so far....

Best Wishes

Andy Ward