Man finds surfboard that drifted 2,400km from Australia to New Zealand – and tracks down owner

Alvaro Bon found a surfboard that had been lost off the coast of Tasmania in May 2024, and washed up on a beach in Raglan, New Zealand this month. Photograph: Alvaro Bon

A surfboard lost off Australia’s coast nearly 18 months ago has washed up on one of New Zealand’s most famed surf beaches, thousands of kilometres from where it was last seen.

New Zealand-based French surfer Alvaro Bon was kite surfing in Raglan on the North Island’s west coast on 15 October, when his kite caught in the water and he began drifting out to sea.