Louis Tapper is about to leave on a 260km down winder from Auckland to Russell Wharf in the Bay of Islands. He will be sailing along side 30 ft plus yachts as part of the Coastal Classic yacht race. All of this is in aid of raising funds for the people of Samoa which has been devastated by the recent tsunami there.

He was due to leave at 9.30am this morning, but I don't think the wind is playing nicely at the moment, so hopefully it will kick in. The journey will see him finishing in the dark.

You can visit Louis's main event website here: yakers.co.nz/coastalclassic/1801.html

There are a number of links off that including one to the Samoa relief campaign: www.givealittle.co.nz/campaign/coastalclassic/

You can also track Louis's progress real time with a spot messenger unit from the various links here: yakers.co.nz/coastalclassic/3401.html

Good luck Louis!

And he is on his way & things are looking good so far with about a 20knt SWer blowing. You can track his progress here: share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewsp...6MX8GdcCKgqHpGQaG2x6

yeha go yaker. you definatly are a man of legend.

Pic of Louis on his way at the start of the race.

He is currently 4 hours into it, with a great wind speed averaging 22knots. Lots of media attention, make sure you check out 3 news & Campbell live tonight.

As far as gear is concerned, he's currently on a 2010 13m Cabrinha Crossbow and a naish speed board.

And that should have said "a North speed board"

nice loui is just off the coast of whangarei going great guns. wonder if he will beat many yachts.

mad props from the boardstore crew too.

is he going to need the head torch at this rate? going to be interesting once he has to get upwind to russell though eh!

doofus wrote:


Yeah I think this is going to be the hardest part of the whole trip...I think he has been doing some swimming training just in case

well i hope he cracks most it before 6-7 the wind prediction after that is looking pretty sad.

I'm seeing a land/water race in the future... see whose the fastest. maybe himatangi to paraparaumu.....

Well its dark now & last I heard at 7.30, Louis was heading around the cape on his way to the finish line, but the wind has dropped off to 13 knots, so things are probably getting tricky right now...

share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewsp...6MX8GdcCKgqHpGQaG2x6

Well its been just over 13 hours of non stop kiting & he is still trying to make his destination. It was a somewhat easier run for the first 200km, but now the going is tough with a dropping wind & the darkness of night. You can see by his track on spot the messenger that he has had to do a fair bit of tacking back & forward to get far enough up wind to continue to his destination.

share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewsp...6MX8GdcCKgqHpGQaG2x6

I think this effort is well worth a donation to the Samoan relief campaign...
www.givealittle.co.nz/campaign/coastalclassic/

Did he get there??

Kitey wrote:


He ended up 8 nmiles from the finish line but had to pull the pin at 10.30pm last night because the wind dropped. He spent 6 hours of tacking in the Bay of Islands trying to make his destination...Huge effort!!

Massive effort loui.

congrats on taking to the big boys with thier big toys.

Respect.

Man, that is one hell of an achievement!

Well done!

Thanks guys for all your support. I would also like to thank Brent, Mike, Blake and Charlie for hanging in there for 13 hours on the support boat. While the sea state was kind to me the guys in the boat got a workout at times and we had one of the crew in the fetal position dry retching. Also big thanks to Cabrinha for footing the support boat bill. These sort of missions are not cheap and I could not have done it without their support.

If you think the kiting mission is a bit crazy or would just like to support the Samoan appeal donate generously at:
www.givealittle.co.nz/coastalclassic/

A few people have asked me about he gear I was using and the range. I was using the 13m 2010 Crossbow which was perfect for the day. Bottom end is 8 knots and top end is 30 in the gusts. Realistically 25 is comfortable and the fun starts at 12 knots. Kite goes upwind seriously better than anything I have ever used and is stable and user friendly. Unfortunately with a outgoing tide and dying wind it was hard to make progress in the end. It is a little deceiving in the dark when you think you are making progress but in the end you are back where you started 2 hours previously.

Over 260 km completed in roughly 13 hours. Funny because the first 200 was done in around 7 hours. Body was still willing in the end but wind was always going to make it difficult to get over the line. The PredictWind.com site was bang on with its forecast and I always new there was going to be a time limit with the wind dying late evening. Luke Wigglesworth has lined up 8 times on a windsurfer and only manage a finish 3 times so I am pretty stoked on the leg to Cape Brett and making the longest kitesurf journey in NZ.

I have uploaded a couple of photos here more to follow when I have time. Highlight for me was cruising next to the record breaking boat Alpha Romeo. That thing is seriously fast and deserved the record.

www.flickr.com/photos/yakers/4038354003/...t-72157622485561100/

Hanging out in the Bay of Islands at the moment and the body is feeling pretty good considering.

Hi Louis,

Awesome effort mate, and have no doubt that had that wind have hung around you would have made the finish.

If you have time on the trip south we would love to have you swing past the shop/factory for a coffee, some of the locals would like a chance to get the full story from you first hand.

We are only 7-8 min drive of SH1 about half way back to AKL from Pahia.

Cheers

Dave Kay

Whoot! that is truely inspirational.

Doing a little maths if you can find a day to do 13 hours at your first 7 hour pace that would give you 364km and the world record!