It is fortunate for his passengers that Sir Richard Branson's planes stay in the air longer than he did.

The tycoon managed to keep airborne for 1.5 seconds, travelling just 11.2 metres, before crashing to the sea at the annual Bognor Birdman Competition yesterday.

Thousands of people lined the seafront to watch the annual celebration of winged wackiness.

But with his samba band and dancing girls, contest first-timer Sir Richard stole the show.

Addressing the crowds before take-off, he said he was confident his silver quilted jumpsuit and white feather wings would take him further than anyone else.

He bragged: "It's a long way down but I'm going to go up, not down."

He took a deep breath, smiled for the cameras and flung himself off the pier.

He dropped like a stone.

A few moments later, the sodden wings floated up to the surface, followed by a grinning Sir Richard.

He was then picked up by a boat and ferried ashore, celebrating his attempt by swigging from a bottle of champagne as he waved to the crowds.

He emerged from the VIP tent 30 minutes later, his hair coiffed and his enthusiasm undimmed.

He said: "The jump was great fun but I'm not sure what happened to the wings.

"It's been an absolutely incredible day. All of the competitors have been great sports."

Other competitors at the event, which has been running since 1978, ranged from the outrageous to the frighteningly serious.

A flotilla of boats by the pier and thousands on the beach watched as magnificent men and women in their flying machines - toilets, garage doors, cardboard elephants, foam hedgehogs and even a giant frying pan - launched themselves off the pier.

Keith Lane, an accounts manager from Bosham, near Chichester, spent weeks making a replica Flying Scotsman steam train from cardboard and papier mache.

It split in two the moment he hit the water.

Dressed as Wonderwoman, Nancy Kant had come all the way from Boston in the United States to stake her claim on the long-standing £25,000 prize for the first person to soar 100 metres.

A victor of a Birdman contest in the US, her prize was the chance to compete at Bognor.

But her efforts weren't enough to wrestle the crown from Birdman veteran Ron Freeman, from Northumberland, who managed more than 80 metres in a modified hang-glider.

He completed a hat-trick of victories and jetted off with the £1,000 top prize.