A brief description and background to the people involved

I have been teaching people how to handle boats for the past 45 years and have been the Principal of Dover Sea School for 22 years. Angela, Lance and I also run Seacraft and Pedro Boats UK. We are based at Ramsgate Harbour where we run a local chandlery and skipper charter, workshops/engineering and a boat delivery bussines's that caters for the needs of the boating community.

I have been escorting cross Channel swimmers and other unusual crossings since 1982, personally accompanying over 450 attempts. The pilots that have and are working with us on our vessels have escorted over 700 attempts in total. My successes include Christoph Wandwatsch's world record solo swim in 2005 of 7 hours 3 mins 52 seconds, Peter Stoychev's New World record swim of 6 hours 57 mins and 50 seconds in 2007. Yvetta Hlavacova's fastest crossing of a woman 7 hours 25 mins 15 secs in 2006, two 3 way swims -- (Phil Rush & Alison Streeter), Oldest man and Oldest woman records, a 4 way relay swim --(Des Renford's Australian team) and the Royal Air force Belgium to England relay, and many others. My swim record (to Dec 2005) is 350+ crossings with about a 75% success rate. I have done the greatest number of crossing by any pilot involved in Channel swimming to date. In 2005 I had the honour of being inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (IMSHOF) in recognition of my success encouranging and piloting swimmers across the English Channel and my work on the administrative side of Channel swimming.

I have escorted various rowing attempts, anphibious cars, paddle board crossings, windsurfers, jetskies, microlights etc. Our vessels and pilots are registered with both the French and English Coastguards. In my spare time I am the Hon. Sec of the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation and write articles and training supplements for various parties including Motor Boats Monthly magazine and our sea school & the CS&PF. Angela and I have been delivering craft all over Europe for 40 years and have a wealth of experience to call on.

Angela Oram .Behind every man is a good woman, my wife Angela is mine. She runs the office - tries to keep me and the team organised and looks after the school/office/swimmers and house. She is a keen boating person, a qualified nursing sister and a good cook. When time and business allow her to she crews and accompanies me on our swims, deliveries and crossings. She knows more about everything than I do and is usually the person you will be in contact with.

Lance has been playing with boats in his own right since the age of 7 and is a motorcruiser, advanced powerboat and a personal watercraft instructor/trainer/examiner. He is an active member of Ramsgate lifeboat crew and has been awarded the RNLI vellum for bravery. He is a keen sailor, racing weekends with Royal Temple Yacht Club. Lance has been escorting cross Channel swimmers and other types of crossings for 14 years with over 180 escorts to his name plus many more as crew. He is a registered Channel escort pilot who is well known and in popular demand. He has escorted 250+ crossings with a 77% success rate of about to date. He is a delivery skipper and has delivered craft all over Europe.

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