On Thursday, 17 February, Capetonian kitesurfer Brett Mason successfully completed an unsupported kite crossing of False Bay to Cape Point, rounding Cape Point and finishing at Witsands beach, Scarborough, covering a distance of 70kms in a time of three hours.
“I am so happy with the trip, what an experience. False Bay was incredible – it was the most nerve-wracking portion of the trip, being in the deep ocean, but the wind was fantastic. Swell got big at 3 metres, but I kept my eye on Cape Point and rounded the point fairly easily. The wind was really terrible after that and I thought I may need to stop, but it picked up again around Olifantsbos. After three hours in the water, I’m a bit fatigued, but so glad it’s done.”
For the past 13 years, Mason has dedicated himself to multiple kite disciplines (freestyle, wave riding and big air). As a big air rider, he has achieved a ranking on the “Woo World leaderboard” of number 38 in the world, with a 29,3 m recorded height (out of 37 thousand recorded riders). He has also surfed and kited some of the biggest waves on the South African coastline.
Mason remembers contemplating doing this crossing in the early days of his kitesurfing: “I clearly remember staring at Glencairn beach one day when the north-westerly was blowing, and thought to myself, ‘I could just pump my kite and go directly across the bay’.”
It has been a long time coming, and on Tuesday morning, 15 February, he checked the wind report, saw that the wind was going to be perfect for the crossing, and spontaneously decided that Thursday would be the day.
