A 78-year-old Swede has earned himself a place in hard-drinking lore by attempting to row home after a robust session in the Danish town of Helsingor - an ill-advised venture since it involved a 5km (3 mile) paddle across the Oresund Strait to Helsingborg.

The unnamed amateur oarsman, having apparently soaked up a skinful, was left without cash for the ferry back to his native land. Accordingly, he stole a dinghy and set off across the busy shipping lane, but dropped off halfway across and drifted oblivious until coastguards discovered him still akip in the vessel.

He was returned to Denmark and put on a ferry as soon as he'd sobered up, Danish news service Ritzau reports. According to Reuters, the dingy's owner will not press charges. ®

And the IT angle?

Ah, we're glad you asked us that. Our research indicates that when WordPerfect was researching voice synethesis back in the 1980s, one of the prototypes was dubbed "The Drunken Swede". Defence rests.

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