Crossings: The North Sea

There are a number of opinions on which route defines a North Sea Crossing. It has to be said that some routes seem to be nearer to the Straits of Dover than the North Sea on my map.
And so, the PSK definition is a route that launches/lands north of the French/Belgium border is classed as a North Sea Crossing, south of this border we view it as an English Channel Crossing. It also should be noted that there appear to be two different routings which vary the distances involved significantly, depending on a U.K. side start/finish either North or South of the Thames Estuary. Whatever the route it is still a major and committing undertaking and it has to be appreciated that a number of these crossings demand more than 24 hours in a boat.

Image: East Goodwin Lightship - D. Vandepoele

NorthSea

Route Distance: ~50 nm / 93 km
Prevailing direction: E >> W

Solo

Click column header to sort.

Posn.	K1W	Cat	Paddler	Elapsed	Date	Start	Finish	Boat	Verified	Note	Link1
1		K1M	Dimitri Vandepoele	17:36:00	31-Jul-15	Nieuwpoort	Ramsgate	P+H Scorpio LV	Yes		Article
2		K1M	Dimitri Vandepoele	17:49:00	01-Aug-18	Nieuwpoort	Ramsgate	P+H Cetus MV	Yes		Article

2 solo paddlers.
CW = clockwise, CCW = counter-clockwise

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Teams

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Posn.	Cat	Paddler	Elapsed	Date	Start	Finish	Boat	Verified	Note	Link1
1	K2	Ian Castro / Simon Worsley	17:53:00	4-Jul-09	Southwold	Zeebrugge	Double	--
2	Team	Simon Hobert Bart Pauwels C. Pillen T. Pillen	22:40:00	31-Aug-05	Ramsgate	Nieuwpoort	SKUK Explorer SKUK Explorer Double	--
3	Team	Jens Fenne Edmund Hinz	25:26:00	02-Aug-18	Nieuwpoort	Ramsgate	P+H Cetus MV	Yes		YouTube
4	K2	Kevin Danforth / Franco Ferrero	27:10:00	1989				--
5	Team	Tom Caskey Derek Hutchinson Dave Hellawell?	31:00:00?	03-Jun-76	Felixstowe	Ostend?	_ Baidarka? _ Baidarka?	--

13 team paddlers in 5 teams

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Various

Click column header to sort.

Cat	Paddler	Elapsed	Date	Start	Finish	Boat	Verified	Note	Link1
Team K2	Chiel Van Bakel / Ben Stoel Olly Hicks /	40:00:00?	24-Aug-11	Katwijk, Holland	Sizewell	Klepper Double	--	Escort
Team	Ian Castro Rod Cooke Simon Worsley	24:20:00	28-Aug-05	Aldeburgh	Zeebrugge	Kirton Kirton	--	Escort
K2	Rod Cooke / Simon Worsley	20:07:00	17-Aug-97	Southwold Harbour	Zeebrugge Harbour	Double	--	Escort

8 paddlers in 3 teams

Notes: Various

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Comments

Ian Castro / Rod Cooke et al. (28-Aug-05)
Escort Boat

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Rod Cooke / Simon Worsley et al. (17-Aug-97)
Escort Boat

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Chiel Van Bakel / Ben Stoel et al. (24-Aug-11)
Escort Boat

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Dimitri Vandepoele : (01-Aug-18)
From Dimitri: "I did it solo and unsupported, again.... but I started together with a two man German team (they paddled at different speed). They also succeeded."

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NorthSea
10 completions -- 2 solo + 5 team + 3 escorted
23 paddlers in total (2 solo / 13 team / 8 escorted

Route Distance: ~50 nm / 93 km
Prevailing direction: E >> W
Recorded Start Points:

• ?? (1)
• Aldeburgh (1)
• Felixstowe (1)
• Katwijk, Holland (1)
• Nieuwpoort (3)
• Ramsgate (1)
• Southwold (1)
• Southwold Harbour (1)




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