Fundraising king on crest of a wave

Dubai: Charity fundraiser extraordinaire Ed Baylis is back at the Dubai Sevens and enjoying every moment of the action in the International Overseas section after sitting out last year's event.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers player had a decent excuse for not being around as he was busy preparing to row across the Atlantic Ocean - a 63-day endurance test which raised the best part of Dh1 million for Cancer Research UK.

The 27-year-old Englishman said: "I came here in 2005 and had a great time, and was tempted to return last year but the chance of getting injured was too big a risk to take so close to setting off."

The 3,000-mile crossing was, he added, "very very hard but also cracking fun, the stuff that men are designed for instead of living and dying in front of a computer in the office".

"At one point we were hit by 40-foot waves and that was absolutely terrifying, but overall it was a great experience.

"For the first time in my life there was no get-out clause.

"In rugby you can have a bad day and be substituted, but on the boat there was nowhere else to go, no way out and even if something happened the nearest boat could have been a week away!"