PARIS — A Frenchman has flown more than a mile on a hoverboard in an apparent world record.
The Guinness World Records reported on its website that 37-year-old Franky Zapata traveled 7,388 feet off the French coastal town of Sausset-les-Pins on Saturday at a height of 165 feet above the surface of the Atlantic.
It said a Guinness World Records official was on hand for the flight and determined that it beat the previous record of 905 feet by Canadian Catlin Alexandru Duru last year.
Zapata, a jet ski champion, achieved the new flight on a craft developed by his company Zapata Racing. He also held an earlier Guinness record for doing 26 backflips with a water jet pack in a single minute.
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During his latest flight, Zapata was trailed by a fleet of boats and jet skis. About 200 people gathered to watch the flight in the seaside town near Marseille.
He traveled at an average speed of 93 miles per hour, Guinness said.
Before Zapata made his attempt, a video of a test flight of the Flyboard Air drew more than 3 million YouTube views.
“This has really been a life’s work,” Zapata said after completing the flight.
Zapata Racing has developed an array of water-propelled devices, including the original Flyboard, which connects to a jet ski turbine with a hose.
The Flyboard Air can fly without a hose for up to 10 minutes, the company said. It has four 250-horsepower turboengines, which are fueled by kerosene carried in a tank strapped to its rider’s back.