300 km — on windsurfer

Press, 15 January 1982, Page 16

300 km — on windsurfer

PA Auckland Windsurfing, according to Bruce Kendall, is definitely not the most enjoyable way of getting from Mount Maunganui to Auckland. Mr Kendall, aged 17, has completed a record-setting marathon in which he sailed more than 300 km on a windsurfer. He was accompanied by his family in their 10m keeler, and although he slept and ate aboard the keeler, he spent about 11 hours a day on his windsurfer. Back at home, he said that he was looking forward to having regular meals, “not having any more dog-tired nights, sore legs and sunburnt lips.”

He feels no great sense of achievement. “It doesn’t feel like I have done a marathon at ail — just a normal, everyday little race,” he said. “The only reason I did it was because no one else had done it. But it is pretty silly really — why would anyone want to spend all that time on a windsurfer and get sunburnt and go through all the hassles?” There were long periods of boring times with nothing to do but concentrate and cook in the sun. , There is only one thing that would make him do it again. “If someone breaks my time, I might just have to go back down again next Christmas,” he said.