11 year-old George

George Grisley (11) from Lymington has raised £1,300 for Sport Relief, ‘Rising to the Challenge’ by windsurfing from the mainland, near Lymington to the Isle of Wight (Hamstead Ledge) and back, in total sailing 6.5 miles.  The 5^th April saw a Force 5-6 south-westerly and with the support of a RIB with video onboard, a headcam attached to the mast to record his journey, he set off for his challenge, taking 21 minutes to get to the IOW and 32min to return, due to the wind veering slightly southerly.

George told us: “It was brilliant, I was more scared of failing because I had raised so much money and didn’t want to let people down.  The water was still really cold, I was on my 85L Young Gun with a 3.4m sail, and it was really gusty which made it quite hard work.  It was such a great feeling once I had completed it and I can’t wait to think of my next windsurfing challenge.  Thank you to everyone who supported me, my original target was £250 so to raise £1,300 is brilliant and hopefully through the local newspaper reports I received I have also inspired other children to get involved in windsurfing – it is such a cool sport.  If anyone would like to watch my journey, go to video.mpora.com/watch/fVs9CHb8W”.