Man MAchine Kato is a legend. Well done. Bob Hawke gave the nation a day off perhaps we should get Julia to declare a national holiday KATO'S DAY

I grabbed an interview with him fter he had got home. Here's a transcript:

KATO, WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO DO IT?
I’ve had this trip in mind for about 5 years, ever since I saw a post about Luke Wigglesworth from NZ doing big distances on a windsurfer while racing against ocean boats and I wondered how far I could go. First attempt was a 312k and the record was a bit over that (unknown to me). I always just go for a sail and stop when the wind does or the light goes, so to do a 24hr is no different to the marathon, just a tad longer. This is why I started playing with the Ay-Up Bike Lights and learning to night sail safely. Windsurfing for me is my mediation, I don,t think about anything else but what I,m doing at that particular moment. So a long sail just leaves me relaxed and full of engery. Sandy Point is the best place to sail with it stunning views of the Prom.

TELL ME ABOUT THOSE FIRST FEW RUNS?
The dawn sunrise was great but the first runs were horible, not a lot of wind and very gusty. I,ve had many attempts at this 24hr record with some ending at 360k with no wind. This one nearly stopped at 490k when the wind disapeared at 1.3am. Once the wind came in i spent some time getting into a rhythm and searching for that flatter water that place less strain on your body and board.

WHAT DID YOU EAT DRINK AND HOW?
For water I have a camel back and food I would stop every 3 hrs. The diet wasn,t something I would normaly eat, donuts,chocolate bars, glucose tablets, Tinned Spag. Anything that was easy to eat in the 15mins I allowed my self for the break. As the car is close to where we sail we don,t have to carry the food.

HOWD YOU FEEL AS YOU GOT TOWARDS THE END OF THE SESSION?
Stuffed!!! But Stoked that after many failed attempts we did it. Sometimes it was the weather other times it was life stuff that took a priory. My family have been amazing in giving me the time to pursue this crazy idea. Maybe nows the time to suggest a Tasmanina and back trip. Maybe not.

DID YOU KNOW YOU HAD THE RECORD IN THE BAG?
As we measure our distance on a Personal GPS I knew when I was close to Dave Morehead,s 512k record. Once I reached his mark it was just a matter of sailing fast untill the 24hrs were up. To make sure of a good distance i sailed 25hrs in total

what a man .
what was the average speed over the 24 hours

b3

Well done, a true sportsman, Any one who`s ever done any sport would appluad this metal and physical acievment. And I thought the Melb marathon was tuff. A walk in the park by comparasion.
cheers Lozza

GavGav said...

B 3 said...
what was the average speed over the 24 hours
b3

Umm... 550km / 24hours = 22.91 Km/hour ???? = 12.37 knts/ hour??

But I'm no maths expert....

But I have a lot of respect for what has been achieved!!!

Congrats!!

Almost, but not quite,

Take out breaks and you get the following:

550/24-(24/3x(15/60)) = 25KM/H = 13.498 KNT/H.

Remember that this is an average and taking into account accelleration / deceleration, gusts, lulls and gybes (not taking into account any accidents, coz KATO doesn't fall off his board ) this is a HUGE acheivment.

This is further than windsurfing from Port Melbourne to Devonport (460km)


Just plain awesome KATO!!!!

Just out of interest, what was your peak speed?

Here's the link:

www.theage.com.au/sport/windsurfers-marathon-effort-20101202-18i6f.html

Amazing stuff.

How do you ride in pitch black darkness????? Without hitting sandbanks and the like?

WindRider said...

Here is a scan copy of the articale.

Good head for radio Kato!

I wonder if there is team group world record. We could get a number of us under Kato wing to try fro group effort.

Congratulations dude! Awesome effort :)