Kite-powered craft

SIR – You remark on “unorthodox craft” crossing the Channel (leading article, August 30).

In the 1970s, Keith Stewart, a British-based South African, was the first person to cross the Channel on a simple catamaran. It was 10ft long, and powered by a kite (100sqft).

I believe the crossing gained him an entry in the Guinness World Records, and it certainly gave him (and his kite design) considerable media attention. From that early prototype came the sport of kite-powered surf-boarding.

Melford, Suffolk