Bob Geldof called on sailors and boatowners,to form a massive flotilla across the Channel in July as part of the global call for action against poverty (GCAP). Here's a brief account of what happened.

Why did boatowners take action?
Everyday, poverty kills 30,000 children in Africa alone. Another 100 will have died in the time that it takes you to read this page.

"This is our chance to make sure the G8 leaders understand that we will not stand by and watch them do nothing - again. I want everyone who's got access to a boat to set sail on July 3, and be part of the Long Walk to Justice," Bob Geldof declared to the press on June 8. "I want to see a recreation of D Day - but this time the action is on poverty. This is the rich world on the move in support of those who can barely crawl.

"We call on the sailing community to act now. To take part individuals should encourage their community to set sail across the Channel," he continued, "then walk and travel by any means towards Edinburgh. The G8 leaders have it within their power to alter history. They will only have the will to do so if tens of thousands of people show them that enough is enough. By giving more and better aid, fully canceling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future for millions of men, women and children."

"I have decided to put my name to the Make Poverty History campaign and support the Sail8 initiative because all of us are responsible for the world and the environment we live in," Ellen MacArthur declared. "The Sail 8 initiative has been set up to encourage people to come from France via the main cross channel ferry operators or if they have the right qualifications and their own boat, and weather permitting, of course, they can sail across to Portsmouth or any other UK ports and head to Edinburgh," she explained. "This is not a political crusade but a crusade to make your voice heard and to put an end to needless suffering."

For further information on Make Poverty History initiatives please refer to:

• the Make Poverty History website www.makepovertyhistory.org
• the Live8 website www.live8live.com

The plan and how many registered
Plans polarised around a cross Channel run from owners' home ports to the French port of Cherbourg on Saturday 2 July (the day on which several concurrent Live8 concerts were held). In the final week before departure the organisers of the International Festival of the Sea granted permission to land within the event at the Royal Navy's Portsmouth Naval Base.

Around 100 registrations were received, of which 73 evolved into firm intentions to cross. The fleet represented a mix of sailing yachts and motorboats.

Weather problems
Given safety warnings from many authorities including the French and British coastguards, the organisers and participants were well aware of the need to act sensibly. As the synoptic chart for the morning of 2 July shows here, the weather wasn't particularly kind and it presented conditions that to all intents and purposes made a Channel crossing impractical for many.

Local winds topping 20 knots and lively seas on the English side of the Channel kept the majority of registered Sail8 boats from joining the assembly point in France.

Only four boats made it to Cherbourg and registered their presence by nightfall Saturday, three of them yachts, the solitary motorboat being the Broom 39 Calm Voyager owned by Motor Boats Monthly and skippered by ybw.com's Kim Hollamby. First boat in was the Van de Stadt sailing yacht Supertaff owned by Neil Chapman and crewed by a team from boat broker Boatshed. Another yacht to make it across was the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey Che Shale operated by the Burnham, Buckinghamshire-based Long John Silver Sailing Club and skippered by founder member Perry Davies; the final vessel was the Trewes Viscount 40 steel ketch Blue Argolis owned by the Palmer-Hill family including nine-year-old Sebastian and his 11-year-old sister Kate.

All four boats reported difficult conditions; Supertaff had a brisk wind on the bow for much of her Friday night crossing forcing her to motor for part of the time and tack for the rest. It was a similarly difficult passage for Che Shale with several of her crew suffering from sea sickness in the short pitching seas. Calm Voyager shipped a lot of spray and encountered uncomfortable seas and patches of lower visibility when pushing past the eastern side of the Isle of Wight and out into the Channel on Saturday afternoon, only finally gaining more comfortable seas and clear visibility around 25 miles out from Cherbourg.

The return
Further disappointment was to follow, insofar as there were no French people to bring back on the small craft - all had apparently decided to take other forms of transport to Edinburgh. However at least the return crossing was more straightforward, with the yachts leaving overnight on the Saturday and Calm Voyager following up in the morning.

The four assembled in the Eastern Solent at 1400 on Sunday 3 July and followed line astern behind a Coastguard patrol boat to a welcome at the International Festival of the Sea in Portsmouth (pictured left).

The waiting press were somewhat taken aback at the small size of the fleet and the lack of passengers; in the smooth confines of Portsmouth Harbour it was hard to convey the issues faced over the weekend, save for BBC South reporter Hannah Bayman who had accompanied Supertaff. "I was sick as a dog, battered and bruised," the first-time sailor said. "It was a baptism of fire."

Conclusions
So despite feeling somewhat let down on the day by the failure to generate more numbers, was it a success?

"We have no regrets," Kim Hollamby stated the day after landing. "Despite the fears of authorities no-one needed to be rescued and Sail8 punched well above its weight in PR terms for the weeks leading up to the event so the hope has to be it will have helped to keep Make Poverty History in the forefront of minds. Geldof later called each of the boats to say we were mad and brilliant and that he admired us for what we did, which was unexpected but appreciated and probably, at least as far as the first part of the sentence goes, remarkably astute."

"However one cannot escape the stunning contrasts between our efforts," he continued, "which were marked by worries about the essentials in yachting life (keeping the crew safe, well fed, hopefully not seasick, well rested and so on) and the plight of ordinary people in Africa. Perhaps a few more people need to get mad."

The crews of the four boats were invited to attend the Final Push Live8 event in Edinburgh on July 6 when they had the opportunity of hearing more about the aims and aspirations of the campaign.

At the end of the evening Bob Geldof and Bono both took time out from media interviews and meetings with performers to gather privately with the crews. Geldof said "What you did was important, I cannot tell you why but it was important," reflecting the theme of the evening that ordinary people had to make their feelings felt by the G8 leaders. The challenges facing those living in the poorest countries in the world made the very act of crossing the Channel seem pitiably small indeed. To put this in context, in the half-minute it took for Sebastian and Kate Palmer-Hill to pose for a photograph with Bono, 10 children died in Africa due to poverty-related causes.

For further information on Make Poverty History initiatives please refer to:

The Make Poverty History website www.makepovertyhistory.org

The Live8 website www.live8live.com