Erkka Lehtonen, wakeboarding professional and co-founder of water sports centre Laguuni, wakeboarded continuously for 10 h and 15 minutes in the freezing cold Baltic Sea. The achievement is both the new Finnish record and the new world record.
Today, 4th of May, Erkka Lehtonen made history and wakeboarded for 10 hours and 15 minutes, breaking the previous wakeboarding world record of 10 hours and 5 seconds, made in Canada in 2016.
It was not an easy journey for Lehtonen. He fell down after wakeboarding for three hours and 52 minutes. The mistake reset the stopwatch. Someone else might have called it a day, but Erkka, known for his sisu (the Finnish grit), got back on the board and started over.
Already the first performance was enough to break the last Finnish record of 2 hours and 43 minutes. Altogether Lehtonen spent well over 14 hours on wakeboard.
”I’m feeling good, let’s do another round!”, Lehtonen commented right after his achievement. “When I fell to the water, I felt disappointed. But positive and determinate attitude takes you far, so I got up and continued with the attempt. Now my body is achy but I’m feeling great!”, continues Lehtonen.
The records were made at water sports center Laguuni – a familiar place for Lehtonen who is a co-founder and co-owner of the center.
Laguuni’s wakeboarding cables work with solar power produced by 20 solar panels delivered by the neighboring clean-energy company, Fortum, the main partner of Laguuni. Fortum’s solar energy powered also Lehtonen’s world record.
On the day of the record, the solar panels produced a total of 23 kWh electricity. In addition to that, a battery charged with solar energy was used as a supporting energy source.
“It was amazing to witness Erkka’s world record as a partner – he is an incredible guy!”, cheers Fortum’s brand manager Jussi Mälkiä. “During the day the sun came out, shining more and more, and the panels were generating clean solar power. It’s great that the world record was made respecting the environment, powered by the sun.
