Channel Crossing Record Unbeaten

22 November 2007 - 7 hours and 45 minutes. That´s the time it took a group of slightly mad visually impaired and sighted paddlers to cross the English Channel in a dragon boat to raise money for Guide Dogs for the Blind nearly 10 years ago.

The Scion Sisterhood, a group of female athletes made famous by having Prince William´s on-again-off-again honey, Kate Middleton, in their midst, claims to have smashed that record on 25 August, by crossing the Channel in 3 hours and 42 minutes in a race against fellow athletes from The Brotherhood who did the crossing in even less time, an impressive 3 hours, 28 minutes.

Sadly, the Channel Crossing record will not be considered valid for the Guinness Book of World Records as it was done in a boat without a drummer, dragon head and tail and while using outrigger paddles, rather than regulation dragon boat racing paddles (the 1997 crossing was done in two regulation boats using regulation paddles).

Nevertheless, The Sisterhood and fellow fundraisers from The Brotherhood deserve accolades for their fundraising efforts (more than £100,000 raised for the Chase Ben Hollioake Fund and Babes in Arms), of which the Channel Crossing was certainly one of the most visible, and exciting, if not hazardous.

For more information and photos visit The Sisterhood´s website and the Brotherhood´s website.