Stormy end to dream ride

Jeremy Burfoot. Photo / Doug Sherring

Some might say Jeremy Burfoot had his head in the clouds, when he decided to ride a jetski from London to Auckland.

Certainly, the dream started at 31,000ft, when the airline captain was at the controls of a Qantas 747.

The Aucklander had just finished riding a jetski around New Zealand to raise awareness of cancer, and his copilot asked him, "What are you gonna do next?"

There was a pause.

"Why don't you ride from London to New Zealand?"

Burfoot looked at him: "You're an idiot," he retorted. "Who would do that?"

Three years later, floating in the warm, choppy waves south of Santorini and awaiting rescue by the Greek air force, it was Burfoot who felt the idiot.

Like that Greek hero, Icarus, he had flown too close to the sun - and ended up foundering in the Aegean Sea.

The question is, were Burfoot and his friends ever heroes? As relations between the members of the large team unravelled after the Jayco Ultimate Ride's unfortunate end, the recrimination began to fly.

The Ultimate Ride was billed as raising awareness of cancer. Burfoot's dad had died of cancer and, behind the doors of their $1.7 million North Shore home, Burfoot's wife Manola was fighting a cancer of the tongue.

So did the team members fulfil their charitable obligations? Was due attention paid to the risks inherent in such an ambitious trip? Did they accord themselves in the manner that their sponsors, their charitable partners and their nation might expect?

London, UK /Aug 1, 2010:
The trip had been more than three years in the planning when Burfoot climbed on to his jetski - one of three lent to the Ultimate Ride by manufacturer SeaDoo.

Alongside Burfoot, riding in shifts, were fellow Aucklander Jed Martin, Hamilton's Travis Donaghue, and Croatian Ivan Otulic. These four were the riders - the glamour boys at the forefront of a much bigger team that also included London HQ volunteers, and two ground crew who would follow them along the coast in a Land Rover.

Ahead of them lay 31,000km, 21 countries, and four long months of bumping over the waves - or so they thought.

London-based logistics manager Adrian Erangey recalls what happened next: Burfoot revved the engine, cranked the accelerator, and roared away from the dock - knocking a stranger's boat equipment into the water.

Mere seconds into the trip, and the crew had to dip into the kitty to compensate the grumpy boatie, to avoid him calling the river police.

"Bev (the media manager) had to pay the guy there and then otherwise they wouldn't of got out of the canal," Erangey says.

Budapest, Hungary/Aug 11:
Tensions began to simmer when Burfoot and the other riders failed to show up for an organised charity event, according to Land Rover driver George Robson.

The National Union for Children with Cancer and Leukemia, their partner charity in Hungary, had spent thousands of euros to secure a visit from the Ultimate Ride riders. They paid for the teams' accommodation and licences to jetski down the Danube river. And they hired a support vessel, on which they threw a party for 100 young leukemia sufferers and their families.

The only problem, says National Union legal representative Dr Peter Babinka, is that some of the jetskiers didn't stop for the children and party.

Leaving Hungary, they didn't even fill out the requisite paperwork.

"I have just one question," says Babinka. "How these guys wanted to ride through the ocean, if they could not manage to go through the EU?

"Our union lost face in front of the families, instead of giving them a good memory. Our union, including the President, lost face in front of the authorities. And thousands of euros were spent to have the above results."

Kozloduy, Bulgaria/Aug 13:
Continuing on down the Danube towards the Black Sea, the riders stayed close to the Romanian side of the river. "We were steering clear of Bulgaria but when we got to the end of the day's riding there was no town around on the Romanian side and there was a big thunderstorm ahead," Burfoot recalls.

"That was probably the most dramatic time of the whole ride.

"A guy called George came across on his jetski and said 'come across to my side, there's a little town there you can have dinner and drinks with me. There is no police around and you'll be able to do it and take off the next morning'."

That night their jetskis were stolen. The police were called to investigate both the thefts and their group's illegal entry. Fortunately the SeeDoos were recovered the next day and the men were let off with a warning.

Istanbul, Turkey/Aug 19:
Team arguments had soured relations, but Burfoot insists that is not why he told Martin that he was being sent home.

The reality, Burfoot blogged that day, is that they were short of money. "Unfortunately Jed now goes home, to go back to work and earn some money instead of spending it."

Rhodos, Greece/Aug 29:
Warned by New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs of pirates operating off Yemen, through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, the team made the tough decision to call off the trip. They would ride on around the tip of Greece and back to Croatia to return the jetskis - but no further.

"We all have families, and it would be unfair to put their futures at risk."

Aegean Sea, Greece/Aug 31:
With one rider down and less then a quarter of the journey completed, the Ultimate Ride came to its ultimate end in the sea 60km south of the island of Santorini.

Burfoot, Otulic and Donaghue began sinking when the jetskis' auxiliary bilge pumps failed in big seas. They set off two warning beacons to alert their base in New Zealand, who then contacted the water police in Greece.

The trio were floating in the stormy sea for about three hours before the Greek air force found them.

"We tried to stay cheerful but I wasn't laughing, I was seasick," says Burfoot. "We could see them searching for us for 2 hours. I was busting for a pee and didn't want to go because of the sharks."

The failure of the venture was no surprise to one of the original trustees, Herb Pryde, who had been asked to film and televise the venture.

Pryde, a former RadioLive host and founder of Silver Fox Productions, says he pulled out in August 2009 when they could not afford his filming fee of $250,000. However, he is still named as a trustee on the Ultimate Ride website.

Pryde, with more than 40 years experience in sailing, warned Burfoot of the risks. "I pointed out the dangers that they would face; one, being the huge distance; two, dangers in high waters; and three, the need to have support in case of breakdowns or medical problems.

"I pointed out that piracy would be an issue and the areas around Malaysia were notorious. His reply was 'yes, we understand'."

A support vessel was crucial, Pryde said, preferably a large trimaran.

A leaked email claims the trust spent about US$43,000 ($54,000) to charter and refit a large motor catamaran, Domino, but it never made it into the water. They failed to get a European licence and insurance.

According to the email, the money was not refunded: the shipbuilders spent the first half fitting the boat to accommodate three jetskis and two 1000 litre gas tanks - then the balance restoring it to its original condition.

That left the riders with 31,000km to travel, and reliant entirely on landbased support. It was always going to be a tough challenge.

Jayco marketing manager Andrew Ryan says the failure to complete the venture was disappointing - but these things happen.

"I never thought we are going to get a huge amount of publicity from this," he says. "It's about trying to help people achieve things."

SeaDoo NZ manager Richard Shaw says the company lent the team three jetskis. "As far as I'm aware they're still at the bottom of the ocean."

The sponsors may have been relaxed, but the team members were not.

As the men returned to their homes in New Zealand, Croatia and Britain, the recriminations began flying.

On the blog, Burfoot questioned what happened to about £3000 ($6180) in expenses money, and the proceeds from selling the Land Rover.

That sparked an angry response from other team members, who said the money had all been spent legitimately on expenses like fuel - and slightly less legitimately on bribes for corrupt officials.

Then says Burfoot, his wife received emails falsely alleging he had cheated on her during the trip. That was the final straw - he severed ties with all the men to whom he had been so close, with whom he had risked so much.

But he didn't forget. On February 7 this year on Lake Karapiro, Burfoot set a new jetskiing world record, riding 2287km in 24 hours (albeit in circles).

That record smashed the one previously held by Otulic - an Ultimate Ride teammates he had fallen out with.

Burfoot's motivation? He cheerfully admits it. Revenge.