MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falkland Sound: A crossing with a difference...

Flight Lieutenant Duncan Dean completed the 11 mile in 45 minutes

AN RAF Tornado pilot from Mount Pleasant has become the first person to kite surf across Falkland Sound. Flight Lieutenant Duncan 'Deano' Dean is a kite surf expert, a relatively new sport where the surfer can reach speeds of up to 30 miles per hour and leap as high as 30 feet in the air in strong gusts.

When Deano suggested one evening that kite surfing across the Sound had not been done before and would be a real challenge, his navigator, Flight Lieutenant Wayne Smith, threw down the gauntlet, offering to support him as his campaign manager. The pair then set about planning the adventure, deciding to raise as much money as possible for Combat Stress and Macmillan Cancer Support charities. On Thursday, August 23, Deano set off from Poke Point near Port Howard on West Falkland in a 25 mile per hour wind and choppy seas, hotly pursued by a safety boat manned by John Colquhoun of VT Communications and Officer Commanding 1435 Flight, Squadron leader Dave Gourlay. Deano completed the 11 mile crossing, arriving at Newhaven on East Falkland a mere 45 minutes later and without enduring any major wipe-outs. At one point he was visited by a Tornado of 1435 Flight and towards the end of the crossing, Squadron Leader John Sheldon of 78 Squadron took the opportunity to practise rescue winching on and off the safety boat with one of his Sea King helicopters. At the end of the day Deano had achieved the first ever kite surf across Falkland Sound and had raised over £600. Penguin News