London - Over the years, technology has allowed us to emulate most creatures. Just as the steam engine first enabled man to outrun the horse, so aviation helped us do almost anything a bird can do - except eat worms and lay eggs. With an aqualung on our backs, we are all honorary fish.
Some species, however, have remained harder to crack. Yet now, at long last, thanks to a Frenchman with a brainwave and a length of fire hose, we have crossed a new frontier: the human dolphin has arrived. Mankind, I am glad to report, is finally fit for porpoise.
And this weekend, for the first time, an entire pod of human Flippers could be seen in the warm waters off Qatar for what is certainly the weirdest world championship I have witnessed.
In fact, there have been no less than 60 Flippers here from all over the world - plus one Flopper. But even a complete beginner like me can get the hang of this delightful invention in an hour or two. And it is catching on fast.
It was just over a year ago that former world jetski champion, Franky Zapata, had a eureka moment. For several years now, engineers have been attempting to reinvent the jetski - a jet-powered marine motorbike - with mixed results.
Then, one day, the Frenchman came up with the idea of diverting the water jet from his jetski through a long hose and out through the base of a small surfboard and a pair of hand-held poles. The Flyboard was born.
Within weeks, he had a prototype which could not only send him soaring 30ft above the water but also drive him over and under it just like a dolphin. His acrobatics could rival the best-trained aquarium orca.
Last autumn, he posted a film of his creation on YouTube. The response was both instant and global.
A year on, he has received more than 1,500 orders and opened a small factory near his Marseille home.
And, in next to no time, the Flyboard has made the astonishing leap from the drawing board to its first world cup - almost unheard of in sport - with 60 entries from as far afield as the US and Australia gathered here in Doha.
It is a sport with instant spectator appeal. Indeed, even I manage to draw a crowd of off-duty building workers as I attempt to metamorphose from flounder to dolphin during a lull in the proceedings.
The board itself is the size of a large tea tray with a pair of adjustable boots stuck to the top and two vertical exhaust pipes. Once my feet are secured, two giant water pistols are strapped to my arms - like crutches - with Velcro. The base of the board is attached to a robust 30ft hose, which connects to the jetski via a universal joint.
An instructor sits on a 200hp jetski using the throttle to control the flow of water beneath my feet. He gently propels me away from the shore and tells me to roll on to my front and stand to attention. With a rev of the engine, there is suddenly furious bubbling underfoot and I feel as if someone is giving me a hefty double leg-up.
At the first few attempts, I fall flat on my face - or my back. But within 15 minutes, I am rising a few feet out of the water and staying there. It’s like trying to stay upright on top of a log.
And then I get the hang of it, veering left or right with the tiniest nudge of the foot. My crutches provide balance and speed.
Before I know it, I am five, ten - oh dear - 15 feet above the water… until I lose my balance. It’s quite a drop, especially with a 95lb contraption tied to your feet.
As a beginner, I am in the hands of the person controlling the jetski. But Franky Zapata has developed a remote-controlled throttle so that serious dolphins - or “flyers” as they call themselves - can drive themselves while the unmanned jetski trails behind them.
Seen for the first time, it is a hilarious sight - a cross between James Bond and a fairy with a vacuum cleaner.
Having “mastered” the art of flying, I try a spot of dolphin with Franky himself at the helm. You rise a few feet above the water, dive head-first and then arch back upwards so that the jet propulsion thrusts you upwards and out again.
If you don’t bend upwards, you end up hurtling down towards the seabed like a demented Polaris missile.
It requires a few gulps of the Gulf but I find my rhythm and soon feel positively Flipper-esque.
Is this just a gimmick, a fleeting novelty gadget for adult water babies? Perhaps - but I sense it is here to stay.
These devotees are hooked. There are other jetski-powered gismos on the market, but they don’t offer the same dolphin potential and don’t enjoy the same global, evangelical following as the Flyboard, with its aerobatic, amphibian qualities.
In Qatar alone, there is already a semi-pro Flyboarding team and local agent Fadi al Yousfi has sold hundreds in no time. Even the Qatari royal family has caught the bug.
The magic carpet, of course, is a popular myth in this part of the world and, as I hover above the Gulf on my jet-powered tea tray, I reflect that my jet-powered doormat is probably as close as you can get to the real thing. Not even Aladdin managed to swim like a dolphin. - Daily Mail