UPDATE Thursday 9th March, 2017: He Did It! Read all about Chris Bertish’s transatlantic SUP crossing that has broken records and set a new mark that may never be matched

 
 
 
Original story from December 2016 below…
 
 
 

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Early Tuesday morning in the Moroccan port of Agadir, Chris Bertish took the first of what will be more than 2 million paddle strokes over the next four months, with the South African big wave surfer and SUP explorer seeking to become the first person to paddle across the Atlantic Ocean standing up.

The solo transatlantic SUP crossing will take roughly 120 days and cover approximately 7,300kms (~4,500 miles) of open ocean from Africa to America via the Canary Islands and the Caribbean. While the unsupported voyage will see Chris eat/sleep/live on his specially-designed, futuristic-looking stand up paddle board.

He’s expected to reach Florida by early April. Oh and he’s doing it all for charity…

After more than five years of planning, Tuesday was the big day, with Chris setting off from Agadir in the north-west corner of Africa on a board that he christened the ‘IMPIfiSH’. The Impifish has a water-sealed capsule at the front, which houses most of the navigation and comms equipment, while it’ll also double as Chris’ bedroom for the next 120 odd days.

He even has a travel guitar on board to give him a relaxing distraction.

The board looks similar to that of Nicholas Jarossay, though no doubt Chris learned from Nicholas’ mistakes that saw the Frenchman abandon his transatlantic attempt after less than 24 hours when he capsized in strong winds earlier this year.

And this is hardly the first time the renowned big wave surfer (winner of the 2010 Maverick’s big wave contest) has set off on an open ocean SUP adventure.

Some of Chris’ past adventures include his eight-day, 320km unsupported paddle through remote, shark-infested waters along a remote stretch of hte South African coast, as well as various attempts at setting 12-hour and 24-hour SUP world records.

But while he’ll be totally solo and unsupported out in the ocean, there are more than a dozen team members back on land providing Chris with critical support and helping make this incredible journey possible.

‘The SUP Crossing’ is supporting three charities: Signature of Hope Trust, The Lunchbox Fund and Operation Smile. You can donate to the cause over on the official site.

We wish Chris the best of luck and breeziest of bumps at his back over the next few months.

We’ll keep regular track of this extraordinary adventure, but for more regular updates follow Chris Bertish’ transatlantic SUP crossing on Facebook and Insta. You can also track the SUP crossing in real-time via Chris’ GPS beacon.

Godspeed.