Frenchman zips across Channel on 'flyboard'

A Frenchman who has spent years developing a jet-powered hoverboard zoomed across the English Channel on Sunday after a first attempt last month was cut short when he fell into the water while trying to refuel.

Franky Zapata set off on his "Flyboard" from Sangatte on the northern coast of France for the 20-minute trip to St. Margaret's Bay in Dover, on England's south coast.

Escorted by three helicopters, Zapata glided across the water in the early morning light and landed in the picturesque bay, where dozens of onlookers and journalists awaited him.

French inventor Franky Zapata takes off on a Flyboard for a second attempt to cross the English Channel in Sangatte, France. Reuters

The five turbines on the former jet-ski champion's craft propel him at speeds of up to 190 kilometres (118 miles) an hour, powered by a backpack full of kerosene that can keep him airborne for around 10 minutes.

He had planned to make the 35-kilometre (22-mile) crossing in 20 minutes, keeping an average speed of 140 kilometres an hour (87 mph) at a height of 15-20 metres (50-65 feet) above the water.

Zapata tumbled into the middle of the busy shipping lane on July 25 after failing to land on a boat waiting in English waters to give him a fresh pack of kerosene.

"The trickiest part is really the refuelling," the 40-year-old Zapata said last Thursday. "I didn't let up on the gas at the right moment."

"Aviation is the result of people who have had failures, and it's by getting back up that we move forward," he said.

This time the refuelling boat was bigger and had a larger landing area, and French navy vessels in the area kept an eye out in case of trouble.

Franky Zapata on his jet-powered "flyboard" lands at St. Margaret's Bay in Dover, on Sunday. Glyn Kirk/AFP

French maritime authorities gave Zapata's team permission to keep the refuelling boat in French waters, something they had refused the first time around citing safety concerns.

Zapata's team had been racing to repair the hoverboard after it was damaged from falling in the Channel waters 10 days ago.

The main uncertainty this time around, Zapata said Saturday, was that his hoverboard might end up having "a little problem."

"Normally we test the machines for several weeks before big events. Here, it's a little bit worrying to be using a machine that has just been rebuilt," he said.

Agence France-Presse