Kite surfers use high winds to jump Worthing Pier (From The Argus)

Kite surfers use high winds to jump Worthing Pier

5:33pm Monday 16th November 2009

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The extreme weather turned to extreme sport with a daredevil stunt in Worthing this morning.

The worst of the bad weather has passed, but the effects were still being cleared up today.

Police and firefighters dragged a water-logged taxi out of Chichester canal this morning as kite surfers staged a 100-foot leap across Worthing Pier.

Custom kite-surf maker Jake Scrace said he had been waiting for years for the perfect weather conditions for his death defying stunt.

Using the waves as a ramp he leapt 40ft into the air to fly 100ft across the pier before landing safely back in the water.

His friend and kite surfing companion Lewis Crathern then followed.

Jake, 25, of Nelson Road, Worthing said: “I first thought about doing it four years ago. It has been my ambition to do it ever since then and waiting for the right time and weather to come along.

“You only get one try at it and you just have to know when it's right, you could be 99% right and still hit the pier. If you don't get it right you could die.”

Brave Jake spent 20 minutes psyching himself up for the jump this morning.

“I wanted to give it a go on Saturday when it was really windy, but it was too blustery,” he said.

“In the end the conditions were perfect with a westerly wind.”

A Metrocab taxi was dragged out of Chichester canal today after the female cabbie and two passengers were plunged into the water at 9.45pm on Saturday.

The car’s brakes are believed to have stopped working in the weather-related accident.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “A taxi driver and two passengers escaped unharmed when the black taxi left the road and plunged into the canal.

“The three adult occupants were thrown a life ring and helped to the bank at Canal Wharf. They suffered from shock but were not taken to hospital.”

Just the roof of the cab could be seen on the surface of the water yesterday morning, until the whole soggy written-off vehicle was hauled onto the back using specialist recovery equipment.

The stormy sea caught a photographer off guard. The snapper was trying to take a picture of sea swimmer Adrian Bates when he got drenched in a massive wave that crashed over the groyne next to the Palace Pier in Brighton.

West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said it received 173 calls about weather-related disruption between Friday morning and yesterday morning and attended 103 incidents.

East Sussex Fire and Rescue estimated it had taken about 100 calls.

West Sussex County Council said highways engineers were called out 230 times over the weekend to keep the roads clear of fallen trees and power lines.

Council leader Henry Smith paid tribute to the staff.

He said: “I would like to personally thank our fire and rescue and highways crews who worked around the clock.”

The Environment Agency had last night removed all of the coastal and river flood alerts for Sussex.

The Met Office is also no longer issuing severe weather warnings for the county, for the first time since Friday.

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