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World Record Kite Tow in Cape Town

Professional kiter Nick Jacobsen, together with Team Brunel, set the world record for highest Kite Tow at 277 meters above sea level.

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Jacobsen, with the help of Team Brunel and their VO65, set the new Tow Up World record at 277 meters, beating the old record, 244 meters, from Jesse Richman by 33 meters. The old record, done behind a speedboat instead of a sailing yacht was standing for over four years.

The Tow Up

The attempt was engineered to perfection prior to the attempt. More than 500 meters of line was dragged behind the boat, where Jacobsen connected himself too. The speed of Team Brunel took care of the actual lift. Team Brunel member Kyle Langford, who is a fanatic kite surfer himself, was in control releasing the 800m line on the winch that connected Jacobsen to the boat. After reaching the maximum length, Nick safely paraglided down to the water in 66 seconds.

Team Brunel

Nick Jacobsen

Nick Jacobson flies high above Cape Town under his kite with the help of Team Brunel. Ydwer van der Heide / Team Brunel

Team Brunel

Team Brunel is one of the seven participants in the Volvo Ocean Race. The team is led by the Dutch skipper Bouwe Bekking, who lives in Denmark. The Volvo Ocean Race will continue on Sunday when the boats are leaving Cape Town for Leg 3 to Melbourne.

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Nick Jacobsen

The 30-year-old Dane, Nick Jacobsen is no stranger to doing extraordinary things with a kite. In April this year he jumped off the third tallest building in the world, the Burj al-Arab, with a kite. He also won many big freestyle kiting events all over the world.

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