FRENCH inventor Franky Zapata yesterday succeeded in crossing the English Channel in 20 minutes on a jet-powered hoverboard he designed. He was forced to abandon a previous bid after failing to land on a refueling platform and falling into the sea.

Escorted by three helicopters, Zapata was seen waving to onlookers before landing safely in Saint Margaret’s Bay, very close to Dover on Britain’s southern coast yesterday morning, according to French TV images.

The five turbines on the former jet-ski champion’s craft propelled him at speeds of up to 190 kilometers an hour, powered by a backpack full of kerosene that could keep him airborne for around 10 minutes at a height of 15-20 meters above the water.

Zapata had failed during an earlier attempt and fell into the middle of the busy shipping lane July 25. He did not manage to land on a boat waiting in English waters to give him a fresh pack of kerosene.

Zapata said he had changed refueling arrangements to give himself the best chance of a successful crossing.

“I just want to do it this time, we changed the boat, we took a bigger boat and built a bigger platform,” Zapata told a news conference Saturday just outside the northern port of Calais.

Zapata was carrying enough kerosene in his backpack to fuel the hoverboard for about 10 minutes of flight, and needed to strap on a new supply for the second leg of his journey.

He took off from France at around 0600 GMT and made a refueling stop mid-way across the 35-km wide Strait of Dover.

A champion on jet ski-powered waterboards, Zapata steers his Flyboard air craft which flies at up to 140 km per hour by leaning forward or backward, and controls thrust with a throttle connected to his 1,500 horsepower board.

“I hope to see you in England, for another press conference,” Zapata told reporters before taking off. “I hope I will be drier than last time.”

Zapata burst into the spotlight at this year’s July 14 Bastille Day military parade in Paris, where he and his craft soared noisily above a crowd of stunned onlookers that included French President Emmanuel Macron.

Zapata has been developing his hoverboard for the past three years, despite losing two fingers during its maiden flight in his garage near Marseille, when they got sucked into the turbines.

He already holds the Guinness World Record for the farthest hoverboard flight, a 2.2-kilometer trip over the Mediterranean Sea in April 2016.

No Guinness adjudicator was on hand for the latest Channel attempt, though a spokeswoman said he could still be awarded a new record if the trip meets its guidelines.

His device has also captured the attention of the French military, which in December gave Zapata’s company, Z-AIR, a 1.3 million euro (US$1.4 million) development grant.

Defense Minister Florence Parly told France Inter radio that it might eventually serve a variety of purposes, “for example as a flying logistical platform or, indeed, as an assault platform.”

“I can’t help it, the first time I saw it fly I said, ‘This is going to be my life’s work’,” Zapata told the French online media site Brut in a recent interview.

(SD-Agencies)