A HOW WHITE KNUCKLE RIDE

Having learnt the hard way from last year's experience, John Carter geared up for another white knuckle ride to bring us the full low down on the 2023 Lanzarote Foil Challenge.

- John Carter, Adrien Mestre, Nico Prien, Hugo Sjöberg & Kurosh Kiani

LOOKING BACK

Rewind to last year's Lanzarote Foil Challenge and I remember putting a bold note in my diary that said if I was ever invited to photograph this event again, I needed to come far more prepared. A three-metre swell, combined with 30-knot trades made for a treacherous eight-hour boat ride, where I destroyed one camera after the boat ploughed into a wave, while the next morning I woke up feeling battered and bruised, like I had gone twelve rounds with Tyson Fury. Despite years of experience in boats and rough seas, for some reason I was expecting a nice, easy tootle round the island in a RIB and didn't even consider bringing much waterproof apparel or protection for my cameras. In other words, I was a complete rookie and hadn't anticipated that this was a serious test of endurance for all involved. Yep, it all sounded like fun on paper, foiling around the rugged coastline of Lanzarote with a fleet of support vessels, but the reality is that this is an incredibly tough, and serious challenge, and certainly not a mission for the feint hearted.

TAKING NO CHANCES