Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Windpower wonderful as Nick sets a new record
Volvo Ocean Racing yacht pulls Danish kiteboarder to incredible heights
more than four years, until Thursday. So it’s quite a big deal.
How big a deal became even more apparent when Jacobsen himself came to the Labia Theatre on Thursday night for the premiere of his film The Jump as part of the Wavescape Film Festival I put on every December.
The Jump chronicles the story of how, in April this year, he jumped off the third tallest building in the world, the Burj al-Arab in Dubai.
It tells the story of how he convinced Branson to help him get the permission to jump off the hotel, from its helipad at more than 200 metres above the ground, or in this case water. Branson is now one of his most avid fans and funders.
He had weird wind issues to deal with around the hotel, including a dangerous wind shadow that he had to avoid after launching.
He was supposed to wear a parachute in case his kite hit a wind hole, but didn’t, as you find out at the end. It was a very sketchy thing to do, and probably a lot more dangerous than the world record he has just broken in Cape Town.
As testimony to this, the cinema was packed out with frothing kiters who hooted at every turn, including some of the world’s best. It was like have 15 of the surfing CT in the house.
It was the loudest audience I have ever heard. Surfers have some catching up to do. Mikey February sadly lost out on a berth in the 2018 World Surf League Championship Tour by literally one heat in the Vans World Cup at Sunset Beach this week. It was agonisingly close for the stylish Cape Town surfer but the good news is that he has been awarded a wildcard into Pipe Masters Invitational. The best two surfers will get wildcards into the Billabong Pipeline Masters, the most prestigious event on the CT, and a chance for his currency to gain further value.
The first South African Downwind SUP championships are being held this weekend. The champs, organised by SUP South Africa, comprise two downwind races today and tomorrow, each from Millers Point to Fish Hoek. The races form part of the Mistral Summer SUP Weekend at Fish Hoek Beach Sports Club that include a range of fun family events and SUP challenges.
A honking SE is going to make conditions interesting for those racing in the SUP downwinders. Today, a solid 6’ groundswell with bigger sets runs at powerful 17 second periods, in fresh becoming strong SE winds. Tomorrow, the swell has eased slightly and the wind pumps again. False Bay is howling onshore both days.