Two kayakers who toppled over while practising for a charity marathon yesterday were surprised to be rescued at sea by the army because they did not feel in danger.

"We had life jackets and were well equipped when we toppled and never felt we were in any danger... We saw people panicking for us on the shore but we were calm. Then suddenly we saw a patrol boat," Dorian Vassallo, one of the kayakers, said.

Having said that, Mr Vassallo, 51, added that he understood how the people on shore would have been prompted to call for help on seeing him and his kayaking buddy, 49-year-old Albert Gambina in the water.

"The sea was rough and it was not pleasant but we had the situation under control. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to be a hero," Mr Vassallo said, adding that the two had toppled over before just a month ago.

He described how, last year, he and Mr Gambina, had rowed to Pozzallo in Sicily to collect money for the Malta Cancer Foundation. In June they were planning to repeat the fundraising event and make their way from Pozzallo to the Valletta Waterfront.

Yesterday the two set out from Marsamxett, as usual, to practise. Since the sea was rough they decided to circle Manoel Island through Pietà, Msida and Sliema. They had completed several rounds and were about to end their final one when they toppled over on reaching the Auberge de Baviere area.

Having been through this before, the men remained calm and started swimming towards the slipway, pulling the kayak behind them.

They noticed that people on shore were gathering and when the Armed Forces of Malta patrol boat turned up, they thought they might as a well hop aboard.

In a statement yesterday the army explained that the two men were rescued from the rough seas after they were alerted that they were struggling against "near to force eight winds".

The rescued kayakers were taken to the army's Haywharf Base where it was established that they did not require further medical attention, the army said.