Kitesurfer Lewis Crathern thrilled crowds of onlookers by jumping over the Palace Pier in Brighton today.
Lewis, 25, took off in high winds at around 4pm this afternoon, easily clearing the Grade II* listed structure.
His flight comes almost a year after his wind-powered leap over Worthing Pier.
Lewis, from Lansdowne Road, Worthing, said: “It’s a nice feeling although I grew up by the sea in East Worthing so today’s not quite as special as doing Worthing Pier.
“But it was much harder though as the Palace Pier is higher so I had to gain much more vertical lift before I could start gliding.
“I had to really time it and I really had to hit a big wave.
“I wasn’t really committed today. I’d been out there two hours and then I changed my kite.
“At first I went out on a smaller kite but the wind had dropped
“When I went over it was awesome.
“I had a nice reaction today with a lot of people cheering and shouting.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a while.
“A couple of my mates had said I could never do the Palace Pier.
Serious
“You need a high tide.
“You need the angle of wind to be correct.
“And you need a nice ramp – or wave – it just gives you that extra lift.”
The former three times British kitesurfing champion reached a height of about 100ft and traveled a distance of about 100 yards to clear the pier.
He said: “I went higher than the glitter ball on the pier.”
He added that there was a serious side to his stunts: “What I’m trying to do with these things that I’m doing is raise awareness about wind energy.
“It’s really important to me.
“I do some educational work with kids in schools and I’ve even done some lectures at universities.”
He also earns part of his living from being the official commentator on the British kitesurfing tour.
Lewis said: “It’s given me a great lifestyle.”
He is backed by the American kitesurfing equipment firm Slingshot with three other sponsors: Rapanui, the clothing firm, Xcel, which makes wetsuits and Dakine, the Hawaii-based accessories business.
His website is www.windmachine.biz.
The video was filmed by Fat Sand Productions
The pictures below were taken by Lewis’s friend Martyn Wells.
Awesome, even better than last time!