‘I always thought it would be fun to zoom to Macau’: kitesurfer who crossed Pearl River Delta

Kitesurfer and ocean lover Hillian Siu Chun-ying had her light-bulb moment while watching passenger ferries criss-crossing the water between Hong Kong and Macau.

“I’d be kitesurfing on Lantau [Island], close to where I live, and notice the ferries passing by,” says Siu, 33. “I always thought it would be fun to zoom all the way to Macau,” she says. On March 1, she did just that, taking just two hours and 18 minutes to get from Soko Island, southwest of Lantau, to Macau, breezing into the record books by becoming the first person to kitesurf cross the Pearl River Delta between the two cities.

Siu became the first female Kiteboard Tour Asia champion in 2009, and has competed in the Philippines, Vietnam, China, Thailand and – her top spot – Taiwan. But not interested in accolades; her priority is the environment. She is planning a rerun of the 55km route in November. This time she wants between 20 and 30 experienced kitesurfers to join her with the aim of raising awareness about marine pollution and raising funds to help tackle the problem.

“For a long time I’ve wanted to support an ocean cause, to do something proactive to draw attention to the city’s massive marine pollution problem,” she says. She is looking for an innovative ocean clean-up project to which she can donate the funds they raise, and hopes to get support from government bodies in Hong Kong and Macau.

“This has never been done before, so that bewilders the government organisations. Some are quite conservative and worried about safety,” she says. “But I’ve shown in my trial run that with proper preparation and the right conditions it’s a safe and easy sail.”

Siu has consulted a director of large race events, to whom she has presented a safety plan for the mass kitesurf, and says it has been well received.