World Record Broken for the Longest Distance Kited by a Fema

"Setting off at four in the afternoon, the plan was to kite throughout the night, and finish just after lunch the following day, 500km to the East."
Over in the middle east, a kiter chick has just deflated her kite after a 17 hour session on the water, riding nearly 300km from Bahrain to Doha, Qatar. And she could have gone further!

Long distance kiteboarding is something that only appeals to a select few in this sport. Most are happy with a session covering an area of less than 1 square kilometer, and others occasionally venture out on a downwinder which stretches 20, 30km at most. After that, things get a little specialized, so when you consider what Anke Brandt; a kiter chick from Germany has just done, it truly is remarkable.

17 hours, 298km, totally unassisted, and she gets on the boat at the end and says 'I could have done more'.

The plan was originally for 550km, a journey from Bahrain to Dubai and double her previous record set back in 2015, where Anke kited around Bahrain in 12 hours. She would have gone the distance too, had it not been for a nasty cold front that threatened her safety crew. Choosing to stop in Doha, Qatar, she still spent 17 hours on the water, including a scary hour floating around in no wind, at night!

Setting off at four in the afternoon, the plan was to kite throughout the night, and finish just after lunch the following day. Plans were looking good, as long as she could make it around a cold front that was fast approaching. She had to avoid it, not for her sake, but for the safety crew on board her support boat! They took a boat that wasn't really designed for 30+ knots and open ocean, so while Anke was sitting pretty on her North Race board in the wind, the poor crew on board the boat were copping it pretty bad. So rather than risk their safety, they chose to head for shore, ending her run early and leaving her with plenty more jellybeans in the jar, should the support boat have been able to continue.

The journey was all in the name of research, namely the Wings for Life Foundation, who are funding Spinal Cord Research, and she's chasing a very achievable target of $5500 (for the 550km planned journey). Help her out if you can , otherwise, keep an eye out for her next adventure in the UAE, because she's planning on breaking her own world record again!