Crossing The Kattegat Sea
Issue 8 / Mon 24th May, 2021
Casper Steinfath isn’t afraid of a challenge, and with this 128km mission from Norway to Sweden, he was armed with just a foil, SUP and a paddle. Did he make it? Find out here...
When you hear about downwind SUP foil crossings, you probably think of Hawaii and events like the Molokai 2 Oahu, big names like Kai Lenny foiling warm Hawaiian waters. You can, therefore, only imagine how happy we were to hear that here in Europe, Casper Steinfath completed the massive 123 kilometre Kattegat Sea crossing!
It's a vast expanse of water between Denmark and Sweden that offered plenty of challenge for 27-year-old Casper. He foiled across the sea on Sunday, 9th May, to be the first person ever to do so.
He succeeded despite being close to giving up several times. The paddle surfer from Klitmøller had to dig deep into the mental and physical bank to become the first to cross the Kattegat on a SUP hydrofoil board downwind. He covered the 123 kilometres in just 10 hours and 53 minutes!
After months of training and patiently waiting for the perfect conditions to arise, Casper Steinfath set off on Sunday 9th May to cross the Kattegat Sea on his Jet HA 1400, 85 cm mast, and 95 L Hover board, with only a paddle in hand. He was the first person to ever attempt such a challenge!
Seven kilometres before the finish line in the small port town, Bua, north of Varberg at the Swedish west coast, wind and waves suddenly disappeared. Casper Steinfath had only two choices: give up or fight the last part lying on his board and paddle in a prone position with the foil underneath him.
He chose to keep fighting.
"I couldn't get my foil flying. I was grounded seven kilometres from the shore with no wave and powerless legs. I was toast. But I could see my destination, and my arms were still working, so after a few hours, I made it ashore", says Casper Steinfath.
When he was most disillusioned, and the crossing was hanging on a thread, help came from an unexpected side. Casper Steinfath's longtime coach, Magnus Lindstedt, suddenly showed up on a SUP and paddled Casper Steinfath home along with a handful of local stand up paddlers.
Tears in the eyes
"I got tears in my eyes. Suddenly, I saw my coach, and he gave me the belief that I could paddle home. It was a huge surprise and meant everything", says a touched Casper Steinfath.
It was a different story when he took his first paddle stroke in the Port of Grenaa on the Danish east coast Sunday morning. However, the problems had already started when he came out on the open water after just a few kilometres. The wind was more easterly than expected, and Casper Steinfath had to paddle with a significantly elevated heart rate close to his max to fight against the elements.
"I was close to giving up several times. The first time was actually after 10 kilometres. I worked at 198 heartbeats per minute, and I was super scared to give up before Anholt. I had very dark thoughts racing through my mind - fear of giving up and fear of failing. I would feel so bad about myself if I did not give myself 110 percent", he says.
But eventually, he could see the Swedish west coast and the lighthouse in Bua, where a small crowd of local Steinfath fans had been waiting for hours for the six-time world champion.
"I'm glad it worked out. Not least because it just did not go as I expected, and it turned into much more than a simple battle of crossing a sea. Kattegat gave lots of resistance and did not make it easy, but that made it even more rewarding and meaningful to complete this adventure", says Casper Steinfath.
We're incredibly impressed to hear of Casper's achievement. Ten hours 53 minutes is the sort of time it takes to do a whole Ironman, which just shows the kind of endurance needed to succeed. Casper would've had to stay on top of his nutrition throughout; it sounded like he went to a deep dark place to get all the way across.
Here at Tonic Mag, we hope this sets the benchmark for others in Europe to push the boundaries. You never know; we might just get an event like the Molokai 2 Oahu if people like Casper keep this up!
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By Jack Galloway
