World no.9 Andreya Wharry sailed into the record books on 27 May by making the longest ever kitesurf passage by a woman. Dreya, 32, from Mawgan Porth in Cornwall, made the record-breaking 70 mile journey from Tresco on the Isles of Scilly to the Extreme Academy at Watergate Bay, Cornwall, in a time of six and a half hours.

The Crossing brought together seven of the world?s best kitesurfers. Wharry, a former Gladiators champion and mastermind of the attempt, was ecstatic to be the first to make it to the mainland, with current world champion Cindy Mosey (New Zealand), and world no.10 Claire Bunton (UK) following just minutes behind.

?I can?t believe we pulled it off, I?m really amazed!?, said Dreya. ?There were moments all the way through where things went wrong and you think it?s not going to happen, but it couldn?t have worked out better in the end.?

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In what proved to be an extremely gruelling challenge, the anticipated problems of fatigue and cold were exacerbated by erratic wind conditions. With a six-day window to wait for the best weather conditions, the decision was made to attempt the crossing on 27 May, setting out ahead of an intensifying low-pressure system forecast to move in from the Atlantic bringing increasingly stormy seas and strengthening winds for the weekend.

The attempt began at 11.30am, leaving from the island of Tresco. CJ Jones (Australia) was the first to drop out with equipment problems which made it impossible for her to navigate through the narrow channels between the islands. She joined one of the three safety boats which accompanied the girls for the 70-mile journey.

Conditions offshore from the islands were near-perfect, with a 15 knot southerly wind allowing the girls to achieve speeds of up to 20 knots, reaching Lands End by 2.00pm. There followed a dream run up the North Cornish coast until 56 miles into the attempt, disaster struck as they encountered a pocket of totally calm conditions.

With no wind at all only two of the girls, Wharry and Mosey, were able to keep their kites flying until the breeze returned. Claire Bunton and former world no.2 Laurel Eastman (USA) were able to relaunch their kites from the water and continue, but world no.6 Fiona Wedenig (Switzerland) was unable to do the same and reluctantly retired.

Suzi Gilbert, 35, from St Austell in Cornwall, was also forced to retire when her kite ripped on one of the safety boats as she attempted to relaunch.

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?We were literally home and dry, we were doing so well,? said Gilbert, who was devastated to have to end her challenge so close to the finish. ?I was feeling really good, really strong, and then we hit this horrendous wind pocket ? there was no wind, literally nothing at all. The kites were barely flying, we couldn?t move, we were just sat down in the water, and my kite came down. When they tried to relaunch my kite and it ripped I was just gutted.?

As the wind returned, the remaining four made good progress, averaging a speed of 20 knots as they rounded Towan Head, Newquay, to gain their first sight of their final destination at Watergate Bay. There followed a tortuously slow approach into the wind, as the girls were forced to tack upwind for almost an hour as the wind strengthened in a less than ideal direction.

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It proved too much for Laurel Eastman, who elected to come in to shore on board a jetski when her kite went down and exhaustion hit.

?I was too far out, the wind was offshore, and I had too much power in the kite,? said Eastman, relieved to be back on the sand. ?I had a huge 16.5 metre kite and I was just edging, edging the whole time and pushing, you?re just so tired by the end. It would be easier if you were going downwind, and I thought it would be more fun to come back and hang out on the beach than be pushing all the time!?

Minutes later, Andreya Wharry was the first to make it to the beach, setting an inuagural world record right at the northern end of Watergate Bay.

?I?m very, very shattered!?, said Dreya, trembling with a mixture of cold and adrenalin. ?I came in and I was right on the edge of the wind, and the wind when you come in on this direction is really flakey, and my kite wouldn?t fly. I saw one of the instructors from the surf school who was surfing down at the end of the beach and he came in and grabbed my kite ? I?ve never been so relieved to see anybody because I thought I was going to hit the rocks at one stage.?

?We?ve been out there six and a half hours, and it wasn?t the cold or the back of the knees and those things I thought would be hardest, it was being able to see home for about an hour and not be able to get there that was awful, I thought I?d have to come in on the jetbike! But Cindy kept slogging on and I thought if Cindy?s slogging, I will too, and we did it! Fantastic!?

The girls will be celebrating their new record at The Crossing party and charity auction dinner, from 7.00pm on Tuesday 1st June at The Beach Hut Bar & Bistro, Watergate Bay. Don?t forget tickets are still available for the three-course dinner upstairs at the Beach Hut Bistro. The ?25 ticket includes a donation to the two charities benefiting from The Crossing: the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the Silke Gorldt Foundation. Those just wishing to join the party can do so from 8.30pm ? tickets are ?10 and include three cocktails and a donation to the charities.

The Silke Gorldt Foundation is an international charity set up in memory of German Silke Gorldt, who died in a kitesurfing accident in June 2002 when she was ranked second in the world. The Foundation run camps educating children about how to kitesurf safely, also providing financial help for people who have suffered kitesurfing accidents. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution also plays a very significant role in kitesurfing safety here in the UK, and are the other main beneficiary of this event.

To reserve your tickets contact the Extreme Academy on 01637 860840 or email liz@watergate.co.uk.

– Press release

Scilly is often described as beautiful, peaceful and exotic but rarely as….well sexy!

A national fashion magazine, Glamour, has named the islands a sexy hotspot.

It advises staying on Bryher and describes Tresco as the social centre of Scilly.

Bryher residents turned out on Sunday to greet the Bishop of Truro.

He was visiting to consecrate the new part of the churchyard. He had been due to visit earlier in the year but was fog bound.

Church warden Kristine Taylor told Scilly News: “It was a lovely day.”

Islanders provided tea and cakes for the visitor.

The guest book is back.

|18 May 2004|
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St Mary’s and Tresco firefighters were called out to assist Bryher’s crew on Saturday evening.

The Bryher team were called just after 7pm to a fire on Watch Hill. It seemed to be a bonfire that had become out of control.

This is the third fire on the island this year. Early in the year crews were called to an out of control gorse fire on Shipman’s Head (see photo). Then in April the Bryher team were called out to a bonfire that had spread at Veronica Farm.

Firefighters continued to put out the fire until about 830pm.

The Scillonian Club Shield Triangle race was won by the Golden Eagle from St Mary’s.

The Bonnet came second and the Men a Vaur third.

Radio Cornwall will be back broadcasting from Scilly. The BBC station will be on the airwaves from the islands on June 5th and 6th.

Tim Hubbard will be presenting Coast to Coast on the Saturday.

Radio Cornwall last broadcast from Scilly to cover Tresco Marathon in April.

Drivers all over Britain have been complaining about the price of fuel for months but Scillonians are feeling the tugging of the purse strings a little harder.

Islanders have seen prices of unleaded fuel go up to ?1.12 a litre. That is one of the highest prices in the country. Nationwide most drivers expect to pay about 82p a litre. And islanders already have a rough ride as they pay full road tax for the 9 miles of road on St Mary’s. So residents on the islands are now asking the Government for a tax break.

Richard Larn, from St Mary’s, told the Western Morning News: “It isn’t just the price of petrol, it’s the Government’s tax policy. I think they should make a special case out of the islands and offer some tax relief on fuel.

“We do accept this is the price of living on an island. No one does high mileage but it must be difficult for people who own boats with petrol engines.”

Councillors say they have already tried to get the Government to see Scilly as a unique case.

The shipping in of fuel to the islands is subject to large shipping and insurance costs which makes the price so high.

Scilly’s MP Andrew George told the Western Morning News that he thought they had a good case: “We are not setting a precedent for other areas so it should not be too scary for the Government to come up with special proposals for the Isles of Scilly,” he said.

?The Crossing? ? Andreya Wharry?s ambitious attempt to lead the first mass kitesurf crossing from the Isles of Scilly to the Extreme Academy at Watergate Bay, Cornwall took place on 27 May 2004.

Andreya Wharry, from Mawgan Porth, lead the way into Watergate Bay in the early evening. She was followed by world number one, Cindy Mosey from New Zealand, then by world number ten, Claire Bunton from Surrey.

{I?m really excited to have so much support from the Extreme Academy for The Crossing… ~ Dreya } Andreya was joined by nine of the world?s top 20 women kitesurfers for the Crossing attempt. The Crossing was a 70 mile journey taking them from St Martin?s, past Land?s End and up the north Cornish coast, before coming in on the beach at Watergate Bay, near Newquay.

?I?m really excited to have so much support from the Extreme Academy for The Crossing,? said Dreya before the event. ?This attempt is something I?ve been planning for years, and to have some of my best friends coming along with me for the ride just makes it even better.

?Hopefully it won?t just be fun for us ? the sight of 10 kites and all the support boats coming up the coast should be quite a treat for the spectators who will be able to see us as we go past the headlands at Land?s End, St Ives, St Agnes and Newquay.?

Dreya, who is ranked ninth in the world, was joined by current world champion Cindy Mosey (New Zealand), world no.2 Ingrid Kollbichler (Austria) and world no.3 Petra Goeschl (Germany/Holland), also Kristin Boese, Fiona Wedenig, Sonia Fischl, Laurel Eastman and Claire Bunton.

The attempt has benefitted two charities through sponsorship and a charity fundraising event on Tuesday 1 June, billed as a ‘Gala Auction Dinner and Party’ promising ‘Your chance to meet some of the the world’s fittest women and celebrate a successful Crossing’. Dreya hopes to raise over ?10,000 for R.N.L.I. and the Silke Gorldt Foundation.

The Silke Gorldt Foundation is an international charity set up in memory of German Silke Gorldt, who died in a kitesurfing accident in June 2002 when she was ranked second in the world. The Foundation run camps educating children about how to kitesurf safely, as well as providing financial assistance for people who have suffered injuries kitesurfing.

|Pre Event|

?I was talking to friends about how it would be nice to do something to remember Silke by, and to enjoy the sport that she loved,? said Dreya.

?Everyone taking part knew Silke, and I thought it would be really nice to get all the girls together and do something that Silke would have been proud to do. What would be more fantastic than kiting up the coast with 10 of her friends? The whole idea stems from Silke?s huge sense of adventure - she would have loved this.?

Dreya is now looking for sponsors to help finance the ?10,000 attempt. Sponsorship opportunities currently available include Title Sponsor of the Crossing (limited to one company), and Event Sponsors who can supply goods, services or financial contributions, including items to be auctioned at the Charity Auction event on 1st June.

Sponsorship has already been found for safety boats to accompany the riders on the crossing; Skybus are supplying travel from the mainland to the Isles of Scilly; and Isles of Scilly Tourism have arranged accommodation on the islands for the days preceding the crossing attempt. Red Bull and Pulse Radio are also supporting the Crossing.

Companies or individuals interested in sponsoring the attempt can contact Liz Long, Events Manager at the Extreme Academy, on 01637 860840 or email liz@watergatebay.co.uk.

|Schedule||
|24 May| Riders arrive at Watergate Bay.|
|25 May| Morning - Press Launch, The Beach Hut, Watergate Bay.
Afternoon - Riders and crew depart for St Martyns, Isles of Scilly.|
|26 - 31 May| Weather window for the crossing.
Demo days ? kitesurf safety practices, equipment use.|
|1 June| Evening ? The Crossing Party and Charity Auction Event, The Beach Hut, Watergate Bay. Entertainment by Pulse Radio (www.pu1se.com).|

– Press Release, Stuart Elford

A new inter island sport is coming to the islands this year- indoor bowls.

St Agnes team have already been out practising but not in the local hall it is in St Agnes Church.

The aisle has been used so that the island’s team can practise.