A French adventurer's attempt to enter the record books by becoming the first person to cross the English Channel in a pedal-powered airship ended in failure yesterday.
Stephane Rousson, 39, abandoned the bid part-way across the English Channel after being hampered by a change in the direction of the wind.
Mr Rousson, from Nice, set off from the coast of Hythe in Kent just before 8am and hoped to reach Wissant about five hours later while suspended from the miniature Zeppelin but he decided to call off the mission less than 11 miles from his destination. Speaking from France, he said: "We were about three-quarters of the way across but the wind was flowing in the wrong direction for me to make it "I'm not disappointed. I feel happy because it had nothing to do with any technical failure. It was purely the wind that got in the way of this achievement.
"Unfortunately, there was nothing to suggest from the weather forecasts that there was going to be this change in the direction of the wind."
Mr Rousson was taken to the French shore on board one of two boats which had shadowed him. He said the costs involved in the project meant he was unsure whether he would try again but he hoped to bring on board a major sponsor to help him fulfil the dream.
He added: "All my money has gone into achieving this over the past five years. I'm quite a bit in debt."
It was the second daredevil cross-Channel attempt in as many days, following the success of Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy, 49, who on Friday became the first person to fly across solo using a single jet-powered wing. The 22-mile trip took less than 15 minutes.
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