Michael Walther has had to interrupt his Atlantic crossing on his stand-up paddleboard (SUP) for the time being following an incident on Thursday night. The 46-year-old extreme sportsman and environmental activist collided with an unknown object, causing significant damage to his six-metre-long offshore SUP. At the time of the incident, Walther had already been at sea for 13 days and had covered around 1,000 of the planned 6,000 kilometres on his route from Lagos (Portugal) to French Guiana. After the collision off the coast of Fuerteventura, he had to call at the nearest harbour to have the damage assessed and repaired.
Large hole in the cabin of the SUP
The collision occurred while Walther was taking a break. "I had just laid down to have a nap and then it banged once or twice," Walther reported on Instagram immediately after the incident. The force of the impact was considerable: "I flew through the bunk and the boat was completely on its side." After an initial inspection, Walther realised that the position light, the AIS antenna and the cabin of his SUP, which was specially equipped for crossing the Atlantic, had been damaged. "The board must have got caught somewhere. I now have a huge hole in the cabin and have no idea where it came from," explained the extreme athlete about the situation after the collision.
Fortunately, Walther was relatively close to land at the time of the collision. On the morning of 2 October, he reached the port of Puerto del Rosario on Fuerteventura, where a thorough inspection of the board is now taking place. "I now have to go to the next harbour and see what exactly happened," Walther said after the incident. The investigation should clarify whether, in addition to the obvious damage, the board has also suffered structural or safety-related damage that could jeopardise the continuation of the Atlantic crossing. It is particularly important to check the stability of the board as well as the navigation and safety systems.
