Cherbourg to Poole Kite Surf Challenge for Charity!!!!!

[andylovesthewake]

I have been tasked with finding an activity to raise money for 'Help For Heroes' which is an organisation formed to help those who have been wounded in Britain’s current conflicts.
My father works for a charity that has connection with this organisation and has contacts to provide support vessels of some sort and I have 9 months to prepare for this challenge.
The aim would be to sail over the Poole to Cherbourg ferry one day in September 2009 (wind forecast dependant) and Kite Surf back from Cherbourg to Poole. In the next few months I will start training and carry out some test runs going out from Poole into the channel and tacking back again.

Can you Help ???

I would ideally like to raise the profile of this charity event and find a well known Professional Kite Surfer who would be willing to accompany me during some training exercise and for the real thing.
Well known Wind Surfers Guy Cribb and Antoine Albeau successfully crossed the English Channel in a storm in October 2008 in under six hours and raised nearly £9000 so far for the Ellen MacArthur Trust.

Do you know anyone who has attempted (failed or achieved) this challenge kite surfing ?
If you do, please let me know so I can get in touch with them.
Anyone interested or has any information that may assist this challenge, please contact me at

Andrewward@hotmail.co.uk

Best Wishes

Andrew Ward

[AIR-TASTIC]

It is a relatively straightforward exercise.
you will find my own search for a buddy elsewhere on this forum for a similar exercise
HMCOastguard seemed happy with my support team of two RIBS and a 60ft mothership
75 miles is do-able
Issue was that Guinness won't recognise it as a course for record purposes, so Rob Ward (fellow forum-ite) and myself are doing a different route now

Other than that, good luck!!!

When are you thinking of???

THere are also
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XgJz18t27GE
and
http://www.kiteworld.tv/channel-crossing/2/
AND
The current record (current as at the date of this letter) is:
Three surfers from Flexifoil International (a kite manufacturer) crossed the English Channel using kite surfers, custom made boards with 4.9 m² (52.7 ft²); traction kites. Chris Calthrop, Jason Furness and Andy Preston (all UK) crossed the 42.9 km (23.2 nautical miles) distance from Hythe, UK to Wissant, France on 17 September 1999, in a time of 2 hr 30 min (2 members) and 3 hr respectively (1 member).