David Macgregor

beach or leaving the next morning.

“Safety is paramount,” Tebutt said, adding that every entrant’s movements on the water are monitored via mobile phones using the National Sea Rescue safetrax app.

Paddlers are also followed by NSRI teams “every step of the way” and paramedics are on hand to step in and help.

While most landlubbers will shudder at the thought of eyeballing a shark far out at sea on a narrow piece of fibreglass, Tebutt said it is all part of the fun.

“You always see a shark fin or two out on the water but they do not seem to hassle people much.”

According to Tebutt, during one of the challenges he did, an Australian paddler got so rattled by a “big” great white circling him that he fired off distress flares calling for help.

“There was no space on the [rescue] boat for the ski, so he left it behind,” he chuckled. this year, Woods is hoping his son wins it for the second time in a row.

Woods Junior, 34, has only ever paddled one PE2EL challenge two years ago – which he won.

“There is a lovely culture around the race and it was really special to win it. For the first 50km it is bliss and then you have to dig deep,” he admitted.

The paddlers head out each day soon after first light and spend up to eight hours paddling depending on conditions. There are no cut off times to finish each day and paddlers usually camp at sites along the coast which their seconds have prepared for them. At most stops they just paddle up on to the beach which can make for spectacular wipeouts.

Amazing moments on the water included paddling with hundreds of dolphins while the support paddlers are given from the small communities