Canada royal tour: Prince William and Kate welcomed

[Gerald]

The Duke of Cambridge has landed a Sea King helicopter on water as part of his tour of Canada with his wife, Kate.

The RAF search and rescue pilot had requested the exercise ahead of a day of activities on Prince Edward Island.

Canada is the only country to train its pilots to perform "waterbird" landings, in which the helicopter's engine is cut before it is landed on water.

The couple later went head-to-head as they steered teams of dragon boat racers across Dalvay Lake.

William was guided through the tricky manoeuvre in the Sea King by Col Sam Michaud from the Canadian Forces, who described the royal as "relaxed and professional".

At one point, he hovered around 40ft (12m) above the water, then plunged quickly out of the sky, sending spray up into the air.

Col Michaud said the duke told him his colleagues back home would be jealous he got to do it.

When the duke and duchess took to Dalvay Lake on opposing dragon boat teams, they began rowing furiously along the 200ft course, with William's team crossing the line marginally ahead.

As he was presented with a bottle of champagne as his prize, he said "there's no chivalry in sport".

The couple later took part in a traditional "smudging" ceremony led by Mi'kmaq chiefs in which sage leaves were lit in a bowl and the smoke wafted towards the couple with an eagle wing.

Kate cupped her hands and wafted the fumes up to her face first, followed by William who exchanged a few words with the elder.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14012948



Note: Update Record. 5 July 2011 Last updated at 02:47 GMT