From Kendall Jenner to Justin Bieber, celebs are making a splash flyboarding – so our brave writer takes to the Thames to try it out
Determined to reach the starry heights of Sara Sampaio, the Jenner sisters and alike, Lynsey Clarke takes to the Thames to test flyboarding
CELEBS are taking beach life to the next level this year.
And I’m not talking about Orlando Bloom and Justin Bieber flashing their bits.
No, to soar to the dizzy heights of superstardom this summer you must be able to blast out of the ocean on a jet-powered flyboard while looking ultra-glam.
She made the scariest water sport since the banana boat look effortless as she hovered 5ft above sea level.
Little sister and fellow model Kylie looked equally glam as she flew through the air in a pair of the jet-powered boots with her boyfriend Tyga off the Caribbean island of St Barts earlier this year.
The likes of Bieber, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bridesmaids star Rebel Wilson and Avatar’s Michelle Rodriguez have also given the craze an airing in similarly exotic locations.
But fear not, adrenalin junkies, you can have a go without jetting off to the other side of the world . . . you just need a spare £95.
As The Sun’s resident action woman (not), I bravely volunteered to test it out on the River Thames.
The murky waters of London’s Victoria Dock were probably not as inviting as Kendall’s crystal-clear sea butI’m not one to grumble — even on the greyest day of the summer so far.
I rocked up to Big Crazy Flyboarding’s wooden shack in the middle of a downpour and got changed into a suitably sleek wetsuit.
Next, I was handed a life jacket and hard hat before the safety talk with instructor Steve Leigh.
Steve explained that my boots would be attached to a jet ski via a thick tube and that the power from the ski would be transferred to the wearer’s feet.
Steve would control the speed and I would be the driver — a somewhat terrifying prospect.
At sea, there may be the odd shark to contend with but I had to navigate wakeboarders, paddle boarders and a team of open-water swimmers.
First Steve gave a demo. As I stood on the pontoon watching him somersault and dive through the sky like an acrobat, I started to feel nervous.
On the plus side, his partner Lizzy Vinton assured me that although the water looked pretty grim, it had been quality tested. Phew.
But then came the dead body story. One time, at a different location, the instructors became ill with diarrhoea. The police later pulled a rotting corpse out of the lake. How lovely. Can I back out?
I was soon strapped into my boots and plunging feet first into water.
There are three stages to the experience.
The first was floating around on my back learning how to steer left and right (by bending the opposite knee).
Then I rolled over and practised moving around on my front, keeping my head up to avoid guzzling river scum.
Then on to the finale. I pushed my feet downwards so I was upright in the water and Steve gradually increased the pressure of the jets to blast me up.
It took me a while to get the hang of it and I spent about ten minutes belly flopping and face planting the water.
You need good balance and co-ordination. I’m not known for either. However, I eventually got the hang of it and managed to hover for 20 or 30 seconds at a time. At least it felt that long.
I even steered myself around and perfected diving head first into the Thames like a true pro. I didn’t want to upstage Steve by cartwheeling.
The only thing I might need to work on is disembarking.
I was supposed to gracefully ease myself on to the pontoon as Steve gently propelled me out of the water.
But I think he got a bit excited with the throttle.
I flew through the air and collapsed in a heap on the platform like a lacklustre seal. Not my finest moment.
To recap, flyboarding in the Thames is not glamorous. I doubt even the Jenner sisters could pull it off.
But it is brilliant fun and satisfying once you master it.
I’m not sure I’m world championship level yet but I’d certainly give it another go.