Kitesurfing across the channel

Five friends board from England to France

Five friends from Brighton have kitesurfed across the English Channel in an attempt to raise money for charity and break the world record.

Jamie Breakwell, Matt Derby, Simon Davis, Robby Zutendyke and Ian Davies successfully made it from Dungeness in Kent, to Boulogne in France and have collected over £7,000 so far for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

The group completed the 30 mile journey in two hours 40 minutes - just 10 minutes short of the world record - using 12-metre kites. Rolling swells and avoiding supertankers made the journey hair-raising. "We encountered four or five really large tankers during the crossing," Breakwell said. "We had to stop for one which cost us the world record."

Breakwell and his team had been on alert for some time, waiting for the right weather and sea conditions. On the day they made their attempt it was sunny with 18 to 24 mph winds and a three to four metre swell.

Breakwell's father was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease last year and died in February. "My dad introduced me to windsurfing when I was 11 and that led to me taking up kitesurfing," Brakewell said. "He has always been up for a physical challenge and up until a year ago was still fell running and playing international squash."

To read more, visit www.crosschannelkitesurf.co.uk