Lewis Crathern Kitesurfer July & August Update

Hi all. Busier then ever this last few months on some amazing trips. I am achieving some of my life goals like commentating the World Tour and working with Richard Branson. New opportunities are coming from so many places. I have had to roll 2 months into one update!  Heres my latest from what I got up to in July and August….(and remember you can follow me here https://www.facebook.com/LewisCrathernKitesurf)

The Virgin Kitesurfing Armada

I have to start with the amazing news that Virgin have really taken to ‘The Big Charity Downwinder’ So much so that they are now fully behind the event and are supporting it in various ways. It has now become ‘The Virgin Kitesurfing Armada’! And is set to continue for 5 years! Richard Branson himself is a kean kitesurfer and will take part in the event which has really gathered steam. I am in meetings most weeks and its become most days with organiser Dan from Snow Camp. With less then 2 weeks to go I’m so excited about it. It’s a real first for kitesurfing organising something of this scale and doing it for such good causes. As I’ve been so busy on the promotion and organisation of the event I have found it hard to fund raise but I have had some great ideas. This weekend I am running a clinic with all proceeds going to the charities + you can bid on 2 signed framed Canopies of my old kite that I used to jump the first Worthing Pier.

 

They are both on ebay here: http://ebayitem.com/221278693211 and http://ebayitem.com/221278692799

And remember you can donate directly to my page which is here: anything would really help: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LewisCrathern

News From the main Virgin Website http://www.virgin.com/lifestyle/news/the-virgin-kitesurfing-armada

Surfer.com Athlete of The year 2012

Amazingly I managed to miss this award for nearly the whole of 2013! Surfer.com voted me Kitesurfing Athlete of the year which feels really good. What was really nice is that I am alongside some very well known athletes in there fields like Dane Reynolds in Surfing. They said “The Man who kite jumped the Worthing and Brighton Piers is more then just a passionate kitesurfer. Crathern is building an alternative career, away from the classic professional tour….read the full article here: http://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/8339-dane-reynolds-lewis-crathern-andre-paskowski-and-sammy-morretino-are-athletes-of-the-year-2012-by-surfertoday

 

BEST Demo Day Hunstanton

Earlier on in July I went up to visit CBK of Hunstanton with good friend Chris Bull (from CBK Hayling) We showed all the new 2014 Best kiteboarding Gear to everyone on what became a classic day. The forecast was one of the worst I have seen in ages but out of nowhere a North East Sea breeze picked up to 20 knots and the rest of the day was just amazing. Everybody got to try all the new gear and by late afternoon we were riding together where I could offer a great clinic on boosting and jumping. I was so impressed with the enthusiasm of the local club and also Rob at the shop that I will be making more stops up there to work with the club and promote Best through the shop. If your ever up that way (East Side of England about mid way ish) head over to the shop http://www.cbk-hunstanton.com/shop/. As a kitesurfer I travel all round the world, visit various beaches and mix with all sorts of communities but I felt there was something really special going on up there. 15 of the club have just travelled down my way for an event recently (over 3 hours) just to give you an idea of how kean they are to kitesurf and enjoy each others company.

 

Stance Magazine Double Page

Stance Magazine included a lovely double page shot in there recent edition. It’s a real one off as the whole magazine is full of mainly images which they collected over a period of time. The idea being to show the best shots that tell a story. There are all sorts of incredible pictures in there, with some done at night time and others in really interesting places. I was over the moon to find one of my favourite images of me in there shot during a ‘Megaloop’ in Cape Town by one of my best friends Kaj. Thanks guys.

Worthing International Birdman

Worthing International Birdman took place in August and it was the best one yet. Once again I was invited to be part of the official Compere team with Dave Hunt my childhood idol from the radio station. This year was the one I have been waiting for as they let me jump off! Here’s my flight video here on 3:05 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4XQtphCd0w it makes for a great watch. The height of the ramp they build is around 35 feet and when you jump it feels like your in the air for ages. I have complete respect for all the participants that go off the Pier I just can’t believe they do it, even for me it is quite a height! The weekend drew to an epic close when records were completely smashed. At one point I thought one of the flyers was going to go straight over the Pier!
Every year the event draws MAJOR coverage for the town and its a great job for me being Compere. I never would have thought when I first went over the pier with my kite that I would be there talking of others flying  nearby. I look forward to next year. p.s Thanks Sharon for inviting me back and being so enthusiastic about the event.

 

Sky News – http://news.sky.com/story/1127349/worthing-pier-birdman-breaks-world-record

BBC – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23654815

Picnic In The Park

Picnic in the park is a real community event. Good friend of mine Norah (now Worthing Mayoress) invited me again to be there and speak to the people about kitesurfing. The idea of the event is to bring everyone together have a picnic and take part in many activities ranging from, football, basketball, dancing, face painting, bike juice machine and much more. For the 3rd year running the weather was great and loads of families turned up to have a great time. What I love about this event is that people don’t often get to be close up to the kitesurfing gear. There is a such a great range of interest in Kitesurfing from young kids to adults that just would love to talk to somebody about it. Well done Norah on such a great event again, I’ll be back!

 

PKRA Kite Masters Turkey (Istanbul)

And finally to my last job which took place at the end of August, providing the live stream commentary for the World Tour event in Turkey. I wrote some time back how it would be my goal to do this (I’ll have to find it somewhere!) and it became a reality. I had a great time in Turkey, providing the live commentary is slightly different then just talking through a microphone at an event. You also take on a little roll of director controlling some of the cameras and making decisions when to air the breaks and ads. In the evenings I could get out on the water too which is very important for me. Finding that balance between work and play can be even more challenging when your work is also your play!

As more and more people are tuning in to watch live events I see this area becoming even more important, I look forward to some more commentary with the PKRA in the near future.

It’s been great to catch up and I look forward to updating you all on how the Virgin Kitesurfing Armada went and my next trips.

 

All the Best Lewis