NZ English Channel Record Crossing Attempt Wed.
ENGLISH CHANNEL RECORD CROSSING ATTEMPT SET DOWN FOR
WEDNESDAY MORNING (NZ time)
Auckland, 20 June 2005: An attempt by the New Zealand designed and manufactured Sealegs amphibious craft on the English Channel record crossing is to be made from Dover later this week.
Sealegs founder Maurice Bryham says that weather and tide permitting, the attempt on the record for an amphibious craft set last June by English entrepreneur Richard Branson with a time of 1hr 40mins 6 secs will be made “some time on Tuesday afternoon” (Wednesday morning NZ time).
“ According to the people who are advising us the Channel is more settled, with less traffic later in the day,” he says. “ What time we set off will be decided in the next 24 hours, but I expect it will be between 3-5pm on Tuesday (UK time).”
Mr Bryham says all the paper work for the record attempt was in place. Delays with some of the paper work resulted in the earlier decision to postpone the record-crossing attempt two weeks ago.
The route for the 5.6m rigid inflatable craft, fitted with three in-built wheels which are retracted and lowered when the boat enters and leaves the water, will start from the Dover slipway. At this stage Calais is the planned site to exit the water.
Mr Bryham says the craft has been extensively tested and all being well it will make a return trip to Dover. He is confident of making the crossing from England to France, a distance of about 21 nautical miles, in under 50 minutes—which will obliterate the record set by Branson.
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About Sealegs Corporation
Sealegs Corporation Limited is a public company listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange Main Board with the ticker symbol SLG.
Sealegs amphibious boats are used by customers in New Zealand, Australia, Dubai, France and the USA.
Sealegs Corporation owns 100% of Sealegs International Limited, the world's leading manufacturer of amphibious boats. Sealegs International have developed a patent pending system of hydraulically motorised, steerable and retractable wheels for amphibious boats.
For more information on Sealegs see
www.sealegs.com