Select to expand quoteRobbo2099 said...Dave Whettingsteel said..
Off to carnarvon today do you reckon rob?..!
Hes flying for sure.
From the looks of things, I'd say so Dave. The crossing from the point at Peron Nat Park back to the mainland is nearly 40km and he'll be copping some of the swell across there. Better hope the wind and the swell cooperate.
That's a pretty wacky-looking coastline along there from where he'll make landfall up to Carnarvon. Hard to work out what the water/coast would be like from looking at the Google Earth the photos.
He'll be ok for swell through there, due to the lack of depth it never really gets too big, so stoked to see he navigated the passage, we had a talk and I asked a few sailors advice that's done this stretch, I've only done it in my dingy so happy to see he's on his way, tough one for the crew theyll have to give it some hammer in the landrover to make it around and catch up, also pretty scetchy as keeping a visual check , he'd be out of sight for hours, as the boys say it's an adventure
He's decided to go for the Crossing to Carnarvon, without a stop at Peron point.
Wind at Shark Bay has amped to to 25-30 knots and swung a bit more to the SW, which will make the crossing even more challenging, as it's tough running straight downwind on a kite -- the board wants to outrun the kite and if you get too far ahead of the kite, it'll luft or at least lose power then yank you off the water when it catches up with you.
He's got about 33km to go to make landfall somewhere NE of his current trajectory--with no chance of a stop along the way.
Distance travelled since launching this morning at 0907hrs: Just over 100km.
Plenty of wind up that way today...
this section just keeps getting better. Reality kite internet! 
Next time its got to be a race between two guys with similar live updates, would be a worldwide sensation!
GPS tracker showing him about 200m off the mainland, 27km SE of Carnarvon at 3:40pm!
Who'd of thought you could do this s..t with a bit of material and some string,amazing stuff
Yesterday I would have thought it impossible for someone to kite from Steep Point to Carnarvon in one one hit. today, wow, different story.
I know right, I was on google earlier and I was looking at different things, and I was like, wow anything is possible. I was seriously thinking whether it would be possible to kite Darwin to Indo 
The most astonishing part of the mission today, is that he did the entire run NONSTOP. 0904 hrs to 1634 hrs. SEVEN AND A HALF hours on the water nonstop. Much of it on open waters and there would have to have been a good chunk of that 3.5m swell getting in there once he left Peron Point this afternoon.
Can't wait to hear the stories.
Every chance I get I'm reading this thread and in between on Google Earth going WTF!
Ian just called, sounds fresh as a daisy, the crew were all in high spirits with a couple of Canadian clubs in their guts, just a nasty hole I'n his foot, kited some big sections in less than 50mm of water with gps speeds around 60kph, amazing effort so far, had a very scetchy moment off peron when the wind died but kicked in to drive him to caernarvon at 35knts, amazing what the thought of a cold beer can do to a human being
It totally opens up your mind as to what you can do... I was hanging on to my 6 today going in and out at Horrocks in 30 knots and he has blasted over 100ks in open waters. Am seriously impressed, and loving watching Ian's journey.
Select to expand quoteDave Whettingsteel said...
It totally opens up your mind as to what you can do... I was hanging on to my 6 today going in and out at Horrocks in 30 knots and he has blasted over 100ks in open waters. Am seriously impressed, and loving watching Ian's journey.
Yeh Dave, robbo is doing a great job in giving us a visual update on the crews travels,
Select to expand quoteTerryMcTool said..
Every chance I get I'm reading this thread and in between on Google Earth going WTF!
Me too. I find myself checking for updates at every chance. Such an impressive attempt! Very inspiring! Keep up the good work Ian and keep the updates coming Robbo and cauncy.
Gonna go and donate now! Feel guilty that I haven't before.
UDPATE: Had a quick catch-up with Ian this morning.
With the forecast showing strong winds for the majority of the day, the decision to ride the 6m foil was taken and the launch from about 10km SE of Steep Point went without incident at 0907hrs. The crossings were a big challenge but he made it safely to Carnarvon with no major dramas, landing at Carnarvon at 1634hrs.
If you followed him yesterday, you'd have noticed that he slowed down dramatically for about half an hour off the end of the point at Peron National Park.
If you've been out there on the end of the Point yourself, you'll be aware that it's a humbling and majestic part of the world, but it's unlike anywhere else I've ever seen. A dramatic meeting of red sand, bright blue/green water, blue skies and jagged cliffs makes for a majestic sight, but the combination of the cliffs, the point, the deep channel just off the point and the sections of reef rising further out does crazy things to the wind and the currents. You can toss a 50gram sinker in the water off the point on the end of your fishing line and it'll get dragged along like a cork. The wind swirls around all over the shop and often changes direction from moment to moment.
Despite there being consistent 20+ knot winds for most of the mission earlier-on, he actually got becalmed for about half an hour after making the decision to head across to Carnarvon. A few km off the point the kite fell out of the sky twice and started blowing towards him, but he managed to get it relaunched and got on his way again.
So much for the claims that you can't relaunch a foil from the water!
I'm sure Ian will elaborate later but he said the crossing to Carnarvon was extremely rough water, causing him to ride much slower than he could have done on flat water. No dramas to speak of getting to the mainland coastline. Along the way to Carnarvon he had to dodge quite a few sticks poking out of the sea floor but other than that, no other impediments or obstacles.
He was hoofing off to get a coffee earlier this morning when I spoke with him. We'd organised for GWN7 to interview him shortly afterwards.
All going to plan, there should be a story on the GWN7 news about the mission tonight, so keep an eye out!
They had offshore winds in Carnarvon this morning, but the forecast was indicating it might swing around by afternoon. The plan is to make a call based on what the condition look like and if possible, make a run to Blowholes or Quobba Station, then wait it out until the conditions improve. As of midday, it was still blowing a gusty ESE so still watching and waiting.
Stay tuned for more...
The mission has nearly reached it fundraising goal -- if you haven't donated yet, please consider putting some $$s towards this worthy cause to help our Australian soldiers who've given so much!https://soldieron.giveeasy.org/campaigns/kitesurfing-perth-to-the-north-west-cape/
BECALMED! (the red dots show approximately 10 min intervals.)
Select to expand quoteaustin said..
this section just keeps getting better. Reality kite internet! Next time its got to be a race between two guys with similar live updates, would be a worldwide sensation!
Where would you ever find a challenger??? Not too many Youngys out there.
UR making us all proud Mr. Young. The stoke here is palpable.
Thanks to all of the team for sharing the stoke, it's bloody inspirational!!!
Well done Ian & Crew.
Just checked the GPS tracker -- looks like he did the run to Blowholes this afternoon!
Someone just blew the fund raising target out of the water! Time to set a reach goal maybe?
Select to expand quoteDl33ta said..
Someone just blew the fund raising target out of the water! Time to set a reach goal maybe?
Wow! Very generous Kevin Bailey !!
There was a guy on an f-one towing a sled off Perth metro yesterday. Anyone know what he was doing? Training for something similar?
He's off again!
Had a chat with Ian about an hour ago via the satphone.
Wind at Blowholes had just swung south and started to pick up.
Looks like he's launched the kite and just left the beach at 1207.
Forecast is calling 10-15 knots from South initially, turning SW then increasing to 15-20 later, so Ian's on the 10m Flysurfer today.
Today's target is the Gnaraloo/Toombstones region if all goes to plan, which is about 75km in point-to-point distance. Next possible stopping point is Coral Bay, which is another 90 km beyond Gnaraloo, so suspect he'll tackle that bit on on another day.
Select to expand quoteRobbo2099 said...
He's off again!
Had a chat with Ian about an hour ago via the satphone.
Wind at Blowholes had just swung south and started to pick up.
Looks like he's launched the kite and just left the beach at 1207.
Forecast is calling 10-15 knots from South initially, turning SW then increasing to 15-20 later, so Ian's on the 10m Flysurfer today.
Today's target is the Gnaraloo/Toombstones region if all goes to plan, which is about 75km in point-to-point distance. Next possible stopping point is Coral Bay, which is another 90 km beyond Gnaraloo, so suspect he'll tackle that bit on on another day.
Looking at the sets he might be a bit later
