From Times Online
August 9, 2007, David Byers

Goodwill voyage ends in arrest at Folkestone
The two Germans and a Frenchman braved choppy seas on their nine-hour journey on a homemade raft
A group of European politicians who sailed across the English Channel carrying a message of goodwill from the German town of Zweibrucken were arrested on arrival in Britain. The deputation of two Germans and one Frenchman set out on a homemade raft with no lifesaving equipment to cross the world's second busiest shipping lane, without gaining prior permission from coastguards.

The three sailors were arrested on suspicion of endangering life as soon as they reached the shore of Folkestone after travelling from Boulogne, and spent 10 hours in police cells. Lynn Dockar, manager of the Boulogne and Shepway Co-operation Association, was part of a welcoming committee at Folkestone who watched in horror as the trio were taken away by police.

"In the space of 20 seconds I went from elation at their joyous arrival to deep concern when two very angry Coastguards appeared," she said. Ms Dockar added that their visitors were "deeply sorry they had caused so much fuss". The sailors claimed that they had tried to make contact with the coastguard to obtain permission before their trip, but after failing to get through on the telephone they decided to head off anyway.

Mark Clark, a Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesman, said their stunt was akin to "crossing the M25 on a scooter with a blindfold on". "It was just stupid. They posed a danger to themselves and to other vessels. Big ships are not to be messed with. Ships go up and down there at a considerable rate," he said.

Their raft was found to have had no radio connection set up with UK coastguards and contained outdated flares, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said. Mr Clark added that it was essential that anyone who wished to cross the Channel - which is used by up to 500 ships a day - sought permission from authorities on both sides of the water. "They’ve also got to assure us they have sufficient safety equipment before they depart, none of which this lot did. We’re really hacked off with them that they chose to do this," he added.

"The vessel was detained by us as an unsafe craft. They hadn’t got a radio which was working on the Coastguard emergency Channel 16 and the flares were completely out of date." The sailors, who named as Gunter Ludvig and Bernard Drucker from Germany and Claude Allan, of Boulogne, were trying to present a goodwill message in a bottle to the chairman of Shepway District Council as part of a partnership agreement between the areas.

However, after being held by police in the cells all the way through yesterday, they only managed to present their message today. George Bunting, the chairman of Shepway District Council, said: "In this particular case we would advise our friends to use a more orthodox form of transport next time they visit us."

The three were eventually released without charge.

Just a few of the Cross Channel Challenges

Crossing by

Aeroplane

25th July 1909, History was made when Louis Bleriot became the first person to fly solo across the English Channel. He took off from France and landed in "Northfall Meadow" behind Dover Castle where granite memorial in the form of an aeroplane was inlaid in the turf. Louis Bleriot won the £1000 prize that the London Daily Mail had offered to the first aviator to cross the Channel.

16th April 1912, female aviator Harriet Quimby, the first woman to cross the channel by aeroplane took off from Dover and landed in Calais 59 minutes later.

Crossing by

Amphibious Craft

14th June 2004, Amphibious craft (new record) Sir Richard Branson, 100 minutes 6 seconds

1st July 2008, Amphibious craft record broken by Prof Hans Georg Nade,r 74 minutes 30 seconds

Crossing by

Balloon
7 January 1785, Dover was the starting-point of the first successful balloon voyage between England and France. The ascent was made from the Castle, near the celebrated " pocket pistol" at thirteen minutes past one. At exactly three o'clock the balloon was over Calais, but the voyagers had to go farther inland before they could safely descend. The aeronauts were Mr. Blanchard, an expert balloonist, and Mr. John Jefferies, a doctor of physic.

Crossing by

Human power aircraft
12 June 1979, Human power aircraft (pedalled) Bryan Allen, 3 hours
 

 

 

 

Channel Swims

 

 

 

25 August 1875, the first to swim the channel, Matthew Webb, 21 hours 45 minutes.

In 1957, 20 counties took part in a cross channel swimming event organised by Billy Butlin, around 30 swimmers took the plunge in the cold waters at Calais heading for Folkestone, all trying to win the first prize 1,000 guinea Butlin Challenge Cup.

4th July 2006, The comedian David Walliams swam the channel in 10 hours 30 minutes