Base jumping off one of the biggest mobile cranes in the UK will be the star attraction at Airbourne this year as the world’s biggest seafront airshow welcomes a brand new daredevil act for 2008.UK Pro BASE will work alongside airshow organisers, Eastbourne Borough Council, for the first time this year to demonstrate the very technical, cutting edge modern sport. Base jumping involves highly trained individuals parachuting off fixed objects, and Airbourne visitors will be in for a real adrenaline rush this summer as a bold team of base jumpers sponsored by Go Fast Sports UK take off from one of the country’s tallest cranes standing at 101 metres on Eastbourne’s Western Lawns.

A spokesperson for Eastbourne Borough Council said: “We are extremely pleased and excited to be working alongside UK Pro BASE in 2008 to put on our most impressive airshow yet. Not only are we welcoming a brand new attraction in the form of base jumping, but the sportsmen will be jumping from an extremely tall crane! Alongside the dynamic aerobatics of the Red Arrows, and the impressive flying displays from the RAF Typhoon, Hawk, Tucano and Tutor, visitors are in for a spectacular four days watching adventurous pursuits in Eastbourne skies.”

Base jumping was only first demonstrated in the UK two years ago and is a relatively new sport. Athletes jump from their chosen object, open the parachute canopy to stop the fall and glide to a landing.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors to Airbourne will see this brand new extreme sport up close as base jumpers take off 101 metres in the air from a 200 tonne all terrain mobile crane.

Go Fast Sports UK will be sponsoring this new attraction and Director, Kris Yule, said: “BASE jumping is a great spectacle and normally only seen by those who are prepared to venture into the mountains of Europe (or get up really early in the morning in the UK and head down to your local tall building). The UK Pro BASE team are a professional outfit who will put on a great show. This is a core sport for the Go Fast brand so we are delighted to be involved in the 1st ever BASE jumping demonstration at Airbourne.”

Max Hurd and Dave Moores will be leading the team of base jumpers who completed the first ever UK base jump off a rollercoaster at Thorpe Park in April this year. Keen to promote the sport to a wider audience, the professional jumpers will be able to demonstrate their skill to a crowd of 500,000.

Airbourne returns to Eastbourne seafront from 14-17 August and with news of this latest addition to the 2008 line up, the international airshow promises a bumper filled four days of flying fun.

Watch in wonder at the Guinnot Wingwalkers, enjoy a tribute concert at Eastbourne Bandstand to the sounds of Grease and Summer Nights, and completely new for 2008, visitors will look to the skies as base jumpers leap off a crane standing over a hundred metres high.

UK Pro Base will be telling Chris Evans all about their latest partnership with Eastbourne Borough Council tomorrow evening on his Radio 2 show. For the latest Airbourne news visit www.visiteastbourne.com or telephone 0871 663 0031.

Tags: 2008, Airbourne, Airshow, Eastbourne, News