Pair complete Channel paddleboard record attempt

Joe Cartwright (right) had to make sure they set off when it was safe to do so

Two men have completed a world record attempt to cross the English Channel on a tandem paddleboard in under five hours.

Joe Cartwright, an NHS paramedic from Dunstable, Bedfordshire, and David Haze, a former city trader and prisoner from Bournemouth, completed the challenge in four hours and 48 minutes.

Mr Cartwright, 49, said that the team had completed the challenge, which was done to raise funds and awareness for suicide prevention.

It was the paramedic's third adventure, after crossing the Channel solo in 2022 and completing a 129-mile (208km) journey along the River Thames with Mr Haze last year.

Joe Cartwright last crossed the English Channel, but on his own, in July 2022

Mr Haze, who served time for burglary, has eight world records in paddleboarding and has mentored young people, discouraging them from crime.

The crossing, in aid of St Albans-based suicide prevention charity, the OLLIE Foundation, began on Friday morning and finished at Boulogne-sur-Mer in France in the afternoon.

Mr Cartwright, who works in Luton for the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAS), said: "There are two big goals in this mission - to raise awareness of suicide prevention and intervention, but also a personal achievement.

"We smashed the record, we made it at 04:48."

The pair had to deal with changeable weather conditions as their departure was delayed by sea mist not rising and the thick fog made it too dangerous for them to cross at the planned time of 07:00 BST.

When they eventually got going they saw dolphins, sharks and two migrant boats, the NHS worker added.

Last year David Haze (left) and Joe Cartwright paddleboarded through Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire along the River Thames

"The achievement and the power of adventure is great for my mental health, knowing I've got a challenge lined up is my biggest therapy to date," he said.

The paramedic has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression for a number of years after several of his friends took their own lives, he said.

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Mr Cartwright and Mr Haze have been training for the Channel crossing for months and have had to deal with a number of health problems

Mr Cartwright said making the 26.5 nautical-mile (50km) journey, on one big long board would be harder with someone else, "as you have to focus on your partner at all times."

The challenge has not put them off as they now plan to make their way from Land's End to John O'Groats by UK waterways over three weeks next year.

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