Kiwis Embark On Jet-Ski Journey From London To Auckland

A team of four men on Sunday set off from London’s Royal Victoria Docks Water Sports Centre on the first leg of the Ultimate Ride, a challenge of almost 32,000 km from London to Sydney and an attempt to break the world distance record for personal watercraft (PWC’s) and boost awareness about cancer prevention.

Team leader Jeremy Burfoot, a 51-year-old Kiwi 747 pilot, started planning the trip three years ago to help promote early cancer detection and prevention, something he feels very strongly about since recovering from his own diagnosed melanoma. The Ultimate Ride is encouraging supporters to donate to a variety of International cancer charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support in the UK.

A crowd of around 100 other PWC’s from UK clubs escorted the team away from the River Thames towards Rotterdam, where the Ultimate Ride ended their first day on Sunday evening.

The PWC’s will travel through some of the planet’s most treacherous waterways, seas and oceans on a journey made famous by many intrepid travellers using different types of craft – but none have been quite so bold as to make an attempt at the distance using personal watercraft.

As well as Burfoot, the team consists of fellow kiwis Travis Donohue (23) and Jed Martin (22); and Ivan Otulic (29) from Croatia who last year broke the Guinness watercraft endurance record with a non-stop ride of 1,641km (1,014 miles). Heading up the ground crew and also riding on some of race legs is young engineer, George Robson, from Brighton, who was part of the support team for Earthrace, the 100% biofueled powerboat that broke the global circumnavigation speed record in 2008.

Each of the PWC’s has been specially adapted to hold between 250 and 270 litres of fuel, equivalent to about 10-12 hours riding.

Tracking: A TracPlus system on board all the PWC’s means that the journey can be followed in real time via the Ultimate Ride website, http://www.london-sydney.com/tracking.htm