From Sakhalin to Hokkaido. Russian kitesurfer crossed the La Perouse Strait

The last few years have been significant for kiting. In November 2018, it became known that this sport will be included in the program of the Olympics-2024. The positive decision was made after the debut at the Youth Games in Buenos Aires. Now the adult Games in France will be decorated with speed races on parafoils and hydrofoils – boards capable of traveling at speeds of up to 70 km/h in minimal wind. It is noteworthy that this discipline practically does not depend on external weather conditions and can be objectively evaluated. Each country will be represented by only two participants, so the competition at the stage of preparation and selection is already being felt.

This year there was another event that makes kiting proud. Two weeks ago, at 10:40 am, a Russian athlete took to the water at Cape Krilion, the southernmost point of Sakhalin. Evgeny Novozheev was a professional kiteboarder until 2010 and won the title of four-time Russian champion. This time he had with him only a board with minimal buoyancy, kite, wind, navigator and a lot of experience. Evgeny’s ambitious goal was to cross the La Perouse Strait, which separates the coasts of Russia and Japan. At that moment, the current record holder could not imagine that in 2 hours and 56 minutes he would be the first to do it. We tell you how the historic crossing from Sakhalin to Hokkaido took place.

The origin of the idea after the Bering Strait, 2011.

La Perouse Strait is not the first or even the largest strait that succumbed to Novozheev’s skill. In July 2011, Evgeny and his support team crossed the Bering Strait, traveling from Chukotka to Alaska. The shortest distance from the starting point to the finish line was 98 kilometers, but the athlete had to walk all 175 kilometers because of wind and currents.

Only after some time I realized what had happened. Because for the first two months I was walking and did not realize the risk of such crossings. Then the realization came, and with the arrival of my family it became even clearer. Small straits are difficult places to pass through. I tried to pass through the Bering Strait, realizing what was happening. I felt how nature and the elements played with me, recognized the degree of currents and all the difficulties that can be encountered on the way. I realized that it is absolutely impossible to predict anything – you have to try.

Then, having landed on the American shore and having bought a tablet for communication with civilization, the sportsman immediately began to study the world map and search for a new goal. The most accessible and also unexplored strait turned out to be the La Perouse Strait.

La Perouse Strait: why this place?

The Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan meet in the La Perouse Strait. Novozheev’s team knew that sailing there would not be easy because of powerful currents and decent-sized waves on which to accelerate. The risky expedition required serious physical preparation and choosing the right moment to start – down to the minute.

And yet La Perouse is the strait that washes the shores of Russia. Until October this year, it had not been conquered by any athlete. Evgeny followed the attempt to cover the same distance by Japanese kiteboarders in September – their experiment was unsuccessful. This gave the situation even more excitement.

In the end, the team chose the exact route: from Cape Krilion to Cape Soya to cross the strait by the shortest way. After all, if you go to the water from the mainland, from Vladivostok side, about three hundred extra kilometers are added to the initial distance.

Choice of weather conditions

The most important factor for kiteboarding is the wind. It should blow with sufficient speed to keep the kite in the air and carry the athlete on the board. Therefore, after studying the winds in that area and talking to local kiteboarders, Novozheev’s team started to wait for the most suitable moment.

La Perouse is not about trade winds or thermal winds that we are used to. The wind in this strait comes from cyclones and typhoons. And strong ones, sometimes causing serious damage. In our case, it was as if I had been sent Typhoon Hagibis, which just a few days before the start had savaged Japan. It was one of the largest typhoons in the last fifty years. We immediately calculated that I needed a storm of maximum reasonable power in which I could navigate on the water.

After the most powerful Hagibis, which went northeastward into the Pacific, the so-called tails were left behind. They were the ones that stably maintained the wind speed at the start up to 10-12 m/s and sometimes caused sharp gusts up to 18 m/s from the side of Japan.

It may seem that such wind speed is too high and dangerous. But it is impossible to sail in mild comfortable weather at such a task: the wind must support the movement both at the beginning of the journey and at the end. Provided the athlete goes out on the water with a moderate wind of 8 m/c, there is a huge risk of stalling as soon as the speed drops to 6 m/c.

For kiteboarding, the absence of wind is a failure. The kite stops flying, traveling becomes impossible. The board has no buoyancy at all: you just end up in the water, powerless and helpless. That’s why you have to choose the wind with a reserve. It’s better to cope with serious gusts, to be patient and hold on than to settle on the water.

The second important natural factor is the strong current on the Japanese side. The shortest distance from Cape Krilion to the finishing Cape Soya is 53 km, but Evgeny traveled as much as 57 km because of the strong side current, which carried the athlete from the original route. For the same reason it was impossible to synchronize the paths of the accompanying boat and the kiteboarder. Thus, the nearest help was at a distance of 5 km from Novozheev, and the team was oriented only by the kite visible in the sky and the radio.

Physical preparation for the crossing

Evgeny realized that experience alone was not enough for the upcoming challenge. He intensively prepared for the heavy load, especially on his legs, carefully chose a comfortable wetsuit and brought himself into excellent physical shape. In addition, Novozheev assumed that throughout the journey he would have to hold a static posture, in which the entire load falls on the “back” leg. It is equivalent to overcoming 57 kilometers standing and occasionally jumping on one bent leg. And not on a flat surface, but on the waves, the height of which reaches up to 8 meters.

One of the tangible difficulties is wind gusts. When the wind starts blowing hard and sharply into the kite, you are literally bent. It becomes hard to rest your foot on the board and stand. To avoid this, there is a special setting like handbrake. With its help the kite opens a bit and lets the wind through. But if in sudden squalls you don’t have time to reach it and brake… It’s comparable to trying to drag a carriage behind you.

Consent from Russia and Japan

The most exhausting part of the preparations the team unanimously cited was getting approval from the border guards of both nations. In order to cross the La Perouse Strait on a kiteboard, they had to go through a full inspection in the town of Korsakov and at the same time explain to the Japanese representatives how the expedition would proceed and, most importantly, why. In addition, Novozheev received a separate permission from Russia to start from Cape Krilion, not from the checkpoint in Korsakov (+100 extra kilometers), as required by the regulations.

I’ll tell you right away that you can’t go out on any beach in Russia, lay out and start in the direction of another country, crossing the border. It was difficult to explain to everyone – both Japanese and ours – what kiting is. Especially on Sakhalin Island it is definitely not the most popular sport. Of course, the border guards looked at us with surprise.

The Japanese were much stricter. They made us a lot of demands, up to marking the exact coordinates of the boat’s turns when it would go around the huge fishing nets. I personally drew them a day before the start. The coordination went on until the last minutes. If Japan delayed the decision, the wind would start to die down. We would have to wait for the next typhoon for who knows how long. But in the end, we got the consent of both sides.

Three hours, during which Eugene crossed the La Perouse Strait, were exciting for everyone. The kiteboarder went on one breath and with a little fear that the wind would die down. His team was much more worried and supported not only Novozheev himself, but also his family. Evgeny’s relatives knew that the athlete would not go off the planned path, and finally heard the happy news: he did it – he set a new world record.