KEY WEST - CUBA

"Well we are moving through the individual rider accounts and gaining some intriguing and impressive insights into the men who accomplished the World Record Crossing from Key West to Cuba. Now for Paul Menta’s story, it is a powerful, disturbing and controversial account."

Pauls motivation for undertaking the crossing particularly after becoming quite ill was surprising, at least to me as a practicing non-parent. Paul’s son, also Paul Menta, 9 years old and moving quickly in his father’s footsteps as a skateboarder and budding kitesurfer, simply wanted him to do it. It became a passion, with questions like, “are we going to be in the Guinness Book of Records?” and the like and father and son formed a solemn pact to do the crossing. Paul Sr. related a “Career Day” experience that Paul Jr. had at school. He brought in and showed one of Paul’s kitesurfing videos and caught some heat from the teacher. She was adamant that Paul Jr. was to present his father’s occupation not his hobby. The teacher eventually saw the light and later met Paul Sr. at which time she apologized and expressed her jealousy of his career. So Paul Sr. as a proud father decided he would do it for his son, he wasn’t going to stay on the beach; he was doing it, no matter what!

Paul Sr. (henceforth Paul again) described the training camp in the Bahamas as a valuable learning and conditioning experience. He had just had his wet cast removed from his hand. Oh, did I forget to mention that the cast covered a shark bite recently suffered while kitesurfing? Paul had just landed a jump in Key West, settled into the water and then noticed that his board was stuck. He reached into the water and had his hand CHOMPED ON TO by a shark who had been happy to just munch on his board up to that point. The conditions were pretty powered and Paul started trying to persuade the shark to let go by beating on it. He eventually let his kite slam into the power zone, catapulting both Paul and THE SHARK still hanging on to his hand, INTO THE AIR! The shark like Kent (a.k.a. the Pit Bull according to Oliver), didn’t let go, at least not at first but fortunately didn’t require shooting to release poor Paul.

He described the team landing in the Bahamas and being treated to the plane sliding sideways in the gusts and looking at each other and grinning thinking “here it comes!” They were right! Paul said that the learned how to ride overpowered for hours in the Bahamas as they were all rigged too big for the strong wind conditions. He called it a “bat out of hell ride!” He estimated that they averaged about 60 miles per day and grew together into a strong cohesive team with a common, “must achieve” goal, to make it to Cuba. He said that they knew as a team that they both could and would make the crossing. Paul described blasting along with his kite in neutral, couldn’t edge his board as that would fire him forward even faster and having to jump just to slow down!

Four days before the crossing, Paul returned from Margarita where he is going to be developing a kitesurfing operation. He felt strange and dizzy on arriving. He proceeded to toss his cookies from Monday to Wednesday with his health rapidly deteriorating. He was admitted to the hospital on Thursday and given three liters of fluid by IV and another on Friday morning. He was diagnosed as having stomach flu and knew of eight others who had been on the island who were suffering the same effects. He was in a heavily reduced condition, physically anyway, comes Friday, the day of the crossing. Against the doctor’s strong advice, Paul got out of the hospital bed and checked himself out to do the crossing. He said he was not going to sit on the beach; he was at least going to make 40 miles, no matter what! Crazy, well maybe but really impressive and there are even more extreme things to come. Paul said that in checking out of the hospital, he knew and trusted the team and that he wasn’t worried, that the team would make it even if only one member. The team had made a deal. He said it was intense and brought home in a big way that your mind can be much stronger than your body.

He said that they kitesurfed for over an hour before the start, waiting for the rest of the support boats to arrive. Once they moved out beyond the reef tract he said the waves got really big and the wind very strong. Paul at about 150 lb. undertook the crossing with a Prankster 151 cm wakeboard with low profile boots and a prototype Cabrinha 9.4 m kite. He commented that when the support boat would come along side they would say that they were averaging 11 kts. I said but Paul, you had to be humping along at least 20 kts. plus in that wind which he estimated at 20 kts. gusty up to 25 to 30 kts. routinely. He agreed but said riding up and down so much up the 15 to 17 ft. waves they netted out as going much slower. Given that I suspect the actual linear distance far exceeded 100 miles, hmmm. Of course the wipeouts reduced the net speed as well.

Paul said that becoming accustomed to charging before huge roaring breaking white water while pitching at insane speed almost vertically down the face of the waves was unnerving and disturbing, hell it was plain scary! All this on a short wakeboard of course for everyone but Fabrice, the wise meteorologist! Paul said he just focused his mind on the task at hand and eventually got over it despite the lunatic carnival ride conditions. Like the support boats, the riders had to constantly throttle up and slow down to keep control in the midst of the heavy breaking waves and gusting winds. He said the other riders would frequently move along side and ask if he was still doing ok as they knew that he was there more out of will than in body.

Paul commented on frequently trying to take visual range points to run on based on the support craft. He would see the 56 ft. Bertram only every THIRD WAVE and it would vanish the rest of the time, the seas were so high! What a comfort!

Paul said in his last hour of shredding he was dizzy and his legs were numb because as the doctor later explained, his kidneys were SHUTTING DOWN. Just before the end, Paul had covered over 63 miles in excess of about hours five or more including the prestart shredding. He had sucked down his entire camel water pack long before that but was still extremely dehydrated from upchucking nearly the entire week before. Gilles told me that he was talking to Paul on a remote headset when Paul said, “I’m loosing it…” and then pitched over on to the water face down and unconscious.

The bizarre thing of it was that Paul DIDN’T LET GO of the control bar. Paul quoted Kevin Collins of Kiteboarding Magazine, who was on one of the support boats, who said that Paul was dragged like a rag at high speed a hundred feet or more across the water and at one point was lofted 15 to 20 feet into the air. Paul explained that it was a good thing that HE WASN’T BREATHING through this as … he could have drowned! Gilles jumped into the water twice from one of the support boats to try to secure Paul but the kite kept ripping him along out of control and at speed. Eventually Gilles dove into the water, bodily tackled Paul and ripped the control bar out of his hands. Then over to the team doctor for some rapid life saving action.

Paul eventually regained consciousness but couldn’t see clearly for about five hours. His doctor later said that he had used up all his body’s electrolytes, the fat was being consumed until heavily depleted and so the vital tissues were then being consumed and organs were starting to shut down. The doctor said that if it wasn’t for Paul’s intense physical conditioning and original excellent state of health there was a good chance that he could have died from the effects of the ordeal.

Paul had major thanks and praise for the three women of Red Bull who took custody of him on the 42 ft. catamaran. One woman held his head while one of the others literally sat on him to try to immobilize him from slamming around the cockpit. Then the cat ripped down the face of a major wave burying the bows into the sea up to THE MAST amidships. The deceleration from 18 kts. to zero or negative sent everyone flying through the air wily nily at high speed far forward to the deck. Paul with the women of Red Bull clinging to him in an attempt to save him harm slammed into the deck in unison. One of the woman gouged her knee badly and Paul, well he only dislocated his shoulder! Paul was generally aware of the tumult and thought well we are going over as he vaguely made out the rudders sticking UP IN THE AIR aft. He tried to grab on to some flotation as he went flying and rolled across the deck, as he didn’t think he could swim.

Paul had major admiration to express for the Captain of the cat, Dave Calvert of Calvert Sails of Islamorada. He said Dave was rock steady, calm and at the helm throughout all this. He even thought Dave was enjoying seeing his baby; he made the cat, show its stuff in conditions on the edge. Have you noticed a lot of folks drawn to the edge in this? Dave also apparently won a transatlantic sailing championship in the past. A good thing, I say!

I asked Paul what was the strongest image that he came away from the experience with…what a list to choose from! He said it was kitesurfing on the edge, barely in control and straining hard and thinking he alone was having this level of difficulty. Neal was off his beam and Kent was shredding just aft. Paul was suddenly and violently ripped off the water in an involuntary loft skyward. As he swung out of control he saw Kent airborne and spinning hard fighting to restore control. He saw Neal get ripped over the bow of his board and go flying in the same gust. All three riders were cast airborne into tumult at the same time! Paul came up laughing hysterically, the reality of what they were ALL dealing with coming home very clearly.

I asked Paul what he learned, what lessons hammered through to carry away from the experience. He said it came in three realms. First, he understood for the first time in his life, what you are capable of doing in the extreme. Second, he was surprised at a visceral level about the size and intensity of the seas and at his ability to cope, barely, with the conditions. Lastly, he learned a great deal about overpowered kitesurfing. The subtle hard won and learned techniques have altered even his lighter wind kitesurfing style. He intends to pass on the benefit of what he learned to his instructors and advanced students in the coming year. If he had it to do over again he would have done it with a longer, thin twintip with a hard edge. He said that the list of knowledge that he came away with was really too long to summarize.

Paul was airlifted out of Cuba back to the states. All he would say was that it was an “interesting experience”. I gather that it was a special ordeal all on its own but will not be related here. Paul said it was worth it attempting the crossing despite the pain and injuries. He told his son, would he do it again, no. It is up to Paul Menta Jr. to make the next mark in history of this type for the family name, when he is ready and willing! Paul understandably is still recovering from all this physically and feels pretty spent at this point.

So that is Paul’s story, crazy, well maybe, but what a story! Paul and the rest of the guys impress the hell out of me. Neal said that in completing the crossing it was like making it to the top of Mount Everest. With each new account the realization of that sinks in a bit more. Paul will soon be off to Chamonix, France for some richly deserved R & R. Enjoy snow shredding but DON’T GO EXTREME PAUL, leave that for Glenn Plake, he has the hair for it!

Rick Iossi