April 17, 2015: Tauranga kayaker Tim Taylor has smashed the world record for a 24-hour solo kayak journey this morning, surpassing the previous record of 194.1km at 4.30 am and paddling until 7 am.
Taylor was picked up by his support boat at 7 am off the coast of Papamoa, New Zealand, with an hour left on the clock and 214 km under his belt, when the cold and exhaustion took over and his body locked up.
He said smashing the record was “surreal.”
“During my New Zealand trip [a previous record attempt] the longest I paddled in a day was 98km and it always annoyed me I didn’t make it to 100,” he told the Bay of Plenty Times earlier today.
The toughest part of his journey was venturing further out to sea to paddle around the Bowentown sand bar with the lack of visibility through the night when strong winds picked up the swell.
“Once you get out there, just the wind was insane for a period of an hour and a bit. Just the scariest paddling I’ve ever done.”
He said he was “wrecked” and struggling to even dress himself after the challenge was complete but feeling ecstatic that he had achieved his goal.
Read a full report, watch an interview with Taylor following his landing, and check out his route map at the Bay of Plenty Times.
