2000km:1 Kite, 1 Man. World Record Breaker Louie Tapper Shares his story at a WAVES fundraising event in Lobitos
25 Sep 2011by WAVES AlumniSo what was Louis Tapper thinking about when he made the world record attempt kite surfing 2000km of Brazilian coastline with no support crew? Was it for the delicious feijoada, the crazy football, the women?
And he’s more of an adventure sport kinda guy
Besides he’s already got a female traveling companion.
In reality his purpose for the trip was far more sincere. As he explained to a group of surfers in Lobitos during a recent WAVES fund raising event, he made the solo journey last year to inspire others and as to see exactly how far he could push the sport.
Another motivating factor was his desire to raise money for SurfAid, a non profit whose aim is to improve the lives of people in isolated regions connected to surfing. By making presentations about his experience wherever he travels, he’s has continued to raise funds for this and other nonprofits even though his trip has ended.
So when Louis came to Lobitos on vacation last week, he was excited to work with WAVES to do something similar that would attract tourists, while informing them about WAVES and benefiting our programs.
The quiet dinner, which took place at the El Muelle surf camp in Lobitos, included storytelling and pictures from his 30 days on the water and a bit of motivational speaking about overcoming obstacles and finding happiness, challenge, and “flow” in one’s life.
Travel2Change volunteers Alexandra and Tristan joined the WAVES crew in a busy day of preparing food for the event.
Tourists from Brazil, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, the US and other countries showed up to find out more about Louis and the WAVES organization. WAVES hopes to continue to find ways to involve visiting surfers in our mission, and we are eternally grateful for people like Louis,who help us make that happen.
Be sure to check out his website, which contains more information on kite surfing and other trips:
yakers.co.nz
Tags: Alexandra, Kiteboarding, Lobitos, Louis Tapper, travel2change, World Record