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A 1,000-km kitesurf for charity

A 1,000-km kitesurf for charity
A 1,000-km solo kitesurf does not sound like an easy feat for anyone to complete. But for the sake of charity, this is exactly what Pacific Basin’s Jacob Bliksted Sorensen has done.

His campaign, Mission: Safe Ocean, is a kitesurf expedition between Mozambique and Kenya along the East African coast, and he covered the 1,000-km over 24 days. Over the course of this journey, Sorensen also achieved a remarkable total distance surfed of just over 2,000 km.

Sorensen is general manager at Hong Kong-based shipowner Pacific Basin and the founder of Mission: Safe Ocean, a campaign to raise awareness of the roots causes of piracy in the Indian Ocean, to support seafarer safety and to raise money for two charities, the Mission to Seafarers and African Development Solutions (Adeso).

“I’m delighted to have completed this 1,000 km journey from Mozambique to Mombasa, not to mention covering 2,000 km on my surfboard along the way. Setting off almost four weeks ago, we didn’t know if it would be possible to cover this distance in the time available and the fact that we achieved this goal with just one day to go shows how close it was.

“I encountered all sorts of obstacles along the way, including a severe lack of wind at crucial times during our journey. I was stranded overnight on a remote island, I had a near miss with a humpback whale and had to kitesurf at night at times to stay on schedule, which definitely isn’t recommended!”

Sorensen said that Mission: Safe Ocean hopes to help reduce the piracy risk for the benefit of shipping, international trade and all of our seafarers by raising awareness and addressing the root causes of piracy.

Donations to Mission to Seafarers and African Development Solutions can be made at: www.justgiving.com/teams/missionsafeocean.

All donations go directly to the two charities.