Tuesday began with a not so bright but very early start for the whole Flexifoil and Virgin Active teams, as well as the troops of helpers that had joined in to make sure the crossing went as smoothly as possible. The kite pumping team started at roughly 5am, accompanied with a picturesque sunrise over the sea. By 7am most of the kites had been prepared, creating an amazing beach presence next to the lonely RNLI lifeboat house in Dungeness.
With kites pumped, and line sets being slowly unravelled the RNLI soon became arguably the most active site on the south coast as the press arrived in their droves, along with one or two members of the public, the team from the Guinness World Records and of course the all important riders. It was a frenzy of activity when Sir Richard, his family and friends all began to appear showing the same looks of excitement and anticipation on their faces. Coffee, orange juice, sausage sarnies and tea all began to flow and the atmosphere began to build. An all important safety and logistics briefing began next, after which the riders all began to kit up. Over the next half hour there were plenty of camera flashes and interviews being carried out as the Flexifoil and Virgin Active teams made final preparations to the kites, launch sites and the support and safety boats.
Soon enough though, the first kite took to the air. The wind was good and optimism that we could achieve the channel crossing on the first attempt was high. Over the past few hours the wind had been steadily increasing leaving a clear choice for Ion 8.5m, and Ion and Proton 7m kites to launch first of all. As the first kite was launched, and flying smoothly, sitting at the top of the window, Sir Richard became the focus of all the media attention as he harnessed in and launched his 8.5m Ion. Stood in a difficult, turbulent position, Sir Richard skillfully controlled the kite to the edge of the water, accompanied by our very own Andy Preston. It wasn't long until Richard body dragged himself to smoother wind and was on his board and away, passing and waving to the awaiting media on the shoreline. Quickly, and with no hesitation the rest of the riders began to take to the water, before heading off with Martyn Hogg performing last minute safety checks before slipping away into the water himself to chase up the pack.
Out at sea confidence was high amongst the majority of the riders as they headed towards France, however the wind had continued to increase and as the riders moved away from the protection of England, the seas picked up and began to worry the safety boats. About 5 miles and 70 minutes in, the call was made to abandon the crossing much to the disappointment of a number of the riders, including a certain Aaron Hadlow who was ready and raring to go!
Back on shore the press had begun to dissipate with some considering moving on to the destination in France, however as news filtered through that the crossing had been halted, the shore soon began to repopulate with cameras and reporters as the first of the riders approached. Not to miss an opportunity to put on a show, it wasn't long before Aaron was showcasing his skills for the world's press, jumping over boats and reporters alike creating a real wow factor, with Martyn and Andy as the supporting acts helping to distill the mild disappointment that the crossing had been halted.
After this, Day 1 was very much a case of clean up, as the Flexifoil team set about deflating and packing down kites. Quickly, on the back of the adrenaline rush of being out at sea, a decision was made by Richard and the rest of the riders, to make another attempt the day after...
Day 2
Day 2 was a similar start for the team, up before sunrise inflating kites, putting in an exceptional amount of hard work. The launch site today had changed slightly, with the wind forecast to pick up later in the day but generally be lighter than Tuesday, every possible step had been taken to maximise the chances of making the crossing. Today was a day for 12.5m Ions, 12m Protons and upwards, which lined up on the beach created an even bigger and more impressive presence than the day before.
After the morning's briefing, the riders were told to kit up and await 3 airhorn blows to tell them to make their way to the kite along with the press. The kit up and launch of the kites this morning was incredibly slick, with each kite being launched and walked a stage down the beach to create a superb parade of the Flexifoil/Virgin Active cobranded kites.
At this point though, the waiting began. There was a brief test in the water by Richard, but the wind just wouldn't play and he wasnt able to power onto his board. Kites were slowly landed out of the sky as riders focused on conserving their energy, with the occasional one being launched as the wind threatened to pick up without ever delivering on that promise. Everything was tried, from line extensions to race boards to try and squeeze every bit of power out of the weak wind and make it out onto the water but nothing was working.
The final throw of the dice came from Sam Branson, who eager to try everything, jumped into one of the Flexifoil branded Audi A8s and headed upshore to the headland where it was hoped there would be a bit more wind. The enthusiasm to make the crossing was clear as the decision was then made to walk all of the kites up the beach to try and launch at the new site, on the promise of "about 10% more wind".
It took another hour of failed attempts to launch and get underway before the final decision was made at around 1pm to land the kites, pack up and close out the second day of the attempt. The mood around the team was of disappointment, but almost instantly talk began of when to try the crossing again. As equipment was packed down, everyone eventually made their way to the local pub, The Pilot, where copious amounts of fish and chips were served, as diaries were openend and planning started on when we could try again.
Overall it was a great couple of days and was a spectacular gathering of people that helped to bring international press and focus onto kitesurfing. It was also a brilliant demonstration of the motivation of the teams at Flexifoil, Virgin Active and the kitesurf community in general who all pitched in wherever they could to try and make this massive event happen. Whilst we couldn't achieve the crossing on the first or second attempt, the motivation and enthusiasm to do it has not dissipated at all so keep watching this space for updates in the near future!!
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