Paddle Board to Key West from Cuba

Women Quit Bid to Paddle to Key West Fri Jul 26, 2002

KEY WEST, Fla. (Reuters) - Half way across the Florida Straits, bad weather forced four American women to abandon their attempt to paddle to Key West from Cuba with their hands, on an 18-foot board.

The woman had hoped to break a men's world record set last year of 20 hours and two minutes for the 112-mile voyage.

But they gave up Thursday about halfway across because of storms and dangerous lightning, organizers said. The captain of the support boat made the decision to pull them out the water.

The four would have been the first women paddleboarders to make the dangerous crossing frequently attempted by Cubans leaving the communist-run island on rafts and even inner tubes.

The team was led by Ramona d'Viola, 43, of Santa Cruz, California and included Brazilian -born Aline Paterson, 27, from Deerfield Beach; Montreal-born Christine McCrady, 28; Kelley Jo Helt, 25, originally from Pennsylvania; and, alternate April Noon, 23, from Fort Lauderdale.

Wooden paddleboards were first used by watermen in Hawaii and were the precursor to the modern surfboard. Paddleboarding is a fast growing sport in the United States today.

The sleek boards, made of fiberglass, can range from a 10-foot sprint board to open water boards of up to 19 feet in length.

Paddlers lay prone or sit on their knees and only use their hands and arms to propel themselves.