Longest Journey Kitesurfing by a Male

Portuguese kitesurfer Francisco Lufinha has completed an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for longest journey kitesurfing by a male. The current record of 446nm is held by Rimas Kinka (USA) when he sailed along the Florida coast from Jacksonville to Key West on February 5-8, 2015.

Lufinha’s effort was non-stop when he sailed off the Portuguese coast from Lisbon toward Madeira Island on July 5-7, covering 472 nm. However, the effort was not without incident or assistance.

Early on the first night, Lufinha had a big crash and was not able to recover his board. Having lost communication with the support boat, he activated a rescue light and was reached by the boat 20 minutes later which provided him with a new board to continue his course.

On the second night, Lufinha fell asleep while kitesurfing at full speed and crashed against the support boat. He was run over by the boat, passing completely under it and between the engines, but incurred only a small scratch in the incident.

He also incurred damage to his kite and required a replacement from his support boat.

Lufinha had hoped to sail a longer distance of 530 nm and finish at Madeira Island but had to stop short due to extreme fatigue, needing to travel the final miles by boat. His distance of 472 nm will now be submitted to Guinness World Record for ratification.

Video below of his start: