Surfer Chris Bertish sets Guinness World Record for SUP

Posted by Bronwyn Douman on 18 December 2013

South African big-wave surfer Chris Bertish has done it again. Bertish set a new record for Stand Up Paddling (SUP) for 120 kilometres (he covered a total distance of 130.1 km in 12 hours).

Yesterday he paddled from Sunset Reef in Kommetjie to Langebaan on the West Coast between 07h00 and 19h00, setting a new distance record for non-stop, 12-hour Open Ocean SUP.

Chris battled the elements like a pro – dealing with 30-knot breezes and 12-feet seas while managing fatigue and staying upright for 12 hours with the looming threat of sunstroke and hyperthermia.

“I had dreamt for years of trying to break a 110-km paddle from V&A to Langebaan, as I knew it could be done, even though many told me it was impossible. The past two years I have been training & working towards that goal,’ said Bertish. ‘The pain was temporary, the memories will last for ever,’ he added.

Previously, this Cape Town surfer completed a SUP the length of the Thames River and crossed the English Channel (setting a new record for the crossing). Chris reached 120 km at 10 hours 56 minutes (unofficial time) and by hour 12 he had done just over 130 kilometres .

 

About Chris Bertish

In 2010, Chris won the Maverick’s Big Wave International surfing event (in Northern California, USA) in the biggest and heaviest waves ever recorded in the history of the sport. In this year’s Stand Up Paddle World Championships in Peru, he placed top 10 in the world after completing a never attempted, unsupported, solo 325-km paddle up the West Coast of Africa. Next year he aims to be the first person to paddle a SUP across the Atlantic Ocean. Chris’s mission is to raise money for charities like the Cancer Association, Reach for a Dream & the Lunchbox Fund through his expeditions.

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