Origami paper boat sails down the Mississippi

Father and son duo Alan and Rhys Jones will use the SunPride juice cartons as an airtight raft sitting between the two hulls of their paper boat when they sail down the epic Missouri-Mississippi River in June.

The pair from Hampshire are navigating the 3,700 miles (almost 6000km) of America's longest river on an eco-mission to raise awareness of conservation issues.

Rhys, 21, who made headlines after last year becoming the youngest person to reach the seven highest summits on seven continents, said: 'My dad is a professional armchair adventurer, and had a Eureka moment when he got the idea for the boat from a book he had on Japanese origami.

'Everyone knows you can sail around the world but no one knows if you can sail 4,000 miles in a boat made from paper.'

The boat is a 1,8 x 3,6m double hull built of juice carton material and made using origami folding techniques to be watertight and durable. It has been especially designed to last the duration of Alan and Rhys' three-month expedition.

A solar energy system will power an electric outboard motor and a basic cabin will protect the duo from the elements.

Alan and Rhys visited Bridgewater on Friday to pick up the cartons for their raft from Gerber's factory on the Express Business Park.

Gerber Juice personnel director Paul Hurst said, “The paper boat expedition will capture public interest and help drive home important environmental messages.

'We congratulate Alan and Rhys for coming up with a unique way of using recyclable juice packaging material to highlight important environmental issues”.