Russian and American Kiteboarders to Travel 85 km Across the Atlantic Ocean

Russian and American kiteboarders are planning to cross the Gulf Stream and the Florida Strait with both of them located in the Atlantic Ocean. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) February 04, 2022 - The group sets off on February 3 from Bahamian Bimini island with final destination being Miami beach in the United States.

Kitesurfers plan to cover this 85 km (52 mi) route in 5 to 8 hours, depending on weather conditions – wind speed and wave length. The kite crossing project is organized by Sodis travel agency.

Safety of this adventure is provided by an escort boat. All participants will have their GPS trackers attached to them. Data of kiteboarders’ location will be sent directly from the equipment to the boat captain.

For en route communication all kitesurfers will be provided with a radio set with 5 km (3.1 mi) of coverage, as well as a headset that operates within 600 m (1968 ft). Emergency call equipment is also provided.

The international group includes the famous Russian kitesurfer Konstantin Aksenov, as well as Vladimir Popov, a professional traveler and entrepreneur, and Chris Ribot, a kitesurfing coach.

“By taking the shortest route between the Bahamas and the United States we want to draw attention to certain disciplines of kiteboarding. It has recently become a new Olympic sport and will debut at the 2024 Summer Games. However, the Olympic program only includes a racing discipline which is quite different from other types of kitesurfing that are popular all over the world. That is why we stand for those disciplines to be included in the Olympic Games too,” Konstantin Aksenov said.

Vladimir Popov stated that after the route is covered an application may be submitted to include this passage through the Gulf Stream and the Florida Strait in the Russian Book of Records.

“One of our routes has already been recorded in the Russian Book of Records as the longest kiteboarding relay race. Participants crossed the Indian Ocean in 9 hours, 9 minutes and 41 seconds,” Vladimir Popov noted.

It is not their first route for Konstantin and Vladimir. They previously travelled 203 km (126.1 mi) across the Indian Ocean from Mauritius to Reunion island. This achievement found its position in the Russian Book of Records. In 2019 the kitesurfers did it once again. In the same 2019 Vladimir and Konstantin tried to cover the extreme Sakhalin-Hokkaido route. Unfortunately, sever weather conditions did not allow them to secure the record.

Chris Ribot entered the team for Key West – Cuba trip, as well as Miami – Key West crossings.

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