The team hopes to complete the trip in about an hour

Andy Bramah, 25, from Weymouth, Dorset, David Schickler, 25, from London and James Potten, from Yeovil, Somerset, hope to reach speeds of around 30mph after beginning the 25-mile challenge from Dover - weather permitting - at about 1530 BST On Tuesday.

The trio, who all met while learning to windsurf, hope to raise �2,000 for Children in Crisis, a charity helping youngsters in war-torn countries.

The team hopes to complete the trip in about an hour, providing no big tankers get in the way.

Coastguards notified

Before their departure, Mr Schickler, a qualified windsurf instructor, said: "They [the tankers] go up and down the Dover Strait at 30mph and take two miles to stop so that is a big danger.

"I think if we went flat out it would take us around an hour but because of the ships it may be more like an hour-and-a-half or two hours."

He said their journey was the first where the windsurfers had notified coastguards on either side of the Channel, although others had been known to successfully complete the trip.

If the group is successful, he said the achievement should make an entry in the Guinness Book of Records.