Bart landt op de Spot

foto: Gerhard Messink



RECORD: CROSSING THE NORTH SEA ON A STAND UP PADDLE BOARD


Bart de Zwart left Lowestoft on Wednesday morning 9:15 local time. The day before he spotted the weather window, which he thought would be ideal for his North Sea Crossing. Bart was waiting for a break in the Easterly winds Holland has had for the last weeks. Suddenly a window of 48 hours appeared, enough to get this adventure going.


His dad drove him to Lowestoft, Anita Harris rocked up to take some photos of his departure and off he goes.



The Crossing
Bart de Zwart crossed the North Sea on a SUP Stand Up Paddle Board (STARBOARD 14' Open Ocean) from England to Holland, solo, non stop and unsupported. 
Bart, a Dutch Pro Stand Up Paddle boarder living in Hawaï, was already nominated for the ‘Top Expedition of the Year’ award and the ‘SUP man of the Year’ award in the United States, in 2011.

No sign of Bart until a about 20:00 pm. At 20:20 we received a phone call from the coast guard that he was spotted by a vessel 15 miles out of the coast of Zandvoort.

When he was 11 miles away from Zandvoort he phoned his dad. He sounded still fit but it was quite a paddle he said. Tears of relieve! He was already 36 hours on the way and not that anyone wanted to admit it, it was nerve wracking not hearing anything from him. Especially for his wife Dagmar who is on Maui with their daughter Soleil and kept in touch with The Spot all day.

Bart arrived at a quarter to one Friday morning (1st of June) at the Spot in Zandvoort, friends and Family waiting for him, cheering and full of respect! This amazing seaman did not fall of his board once during his almost 39 hour crossing on his SUP board!

The Crossing
Bart started near Lowestoft and arrived in Holland in Zandvoort at THE SPOT beachclub. The crossing is about a 100 miles (182 KM). This is the first attempt crossing the North Sea with a Stand Up paddle board.