Queasy
Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Link
Few British men would claim to match Sting's legendary boast that, as a master of 'Tantric sex', he could make love to his wife for seven hours at a time.
But at an average of seven minutes and 36 seconds, they still last significantly longer than their international rivals, it was claimed yesterday.
By comparison the typical American lasts seven minutes, the average Spaniard just under six minutes and most Dutchmen slightly over five minutes.
As for the Turks, they can manage only just over three and a half minutes before it's all over.
The five-nation study, by a team of Dutch scientists, was set up to investigate the problem of premature ejaculation. But it ended up highlighting
national differences in sexual performance.
While failing to measure up to Sting's Tantric achievements, his fellow-Britons can still congratulate themselves on topping the endurance league.
'There could be various reasons for this,' said Paula Hall, a sex therapist with Relate, the former marriage guidance service. 'It may be that British men are more inhibited, that their women have higher expectations or that they are more skilled.
'Some previous research has shown that Italians tend to last least longest so this does challenge some of the national stereotypes in a positive way for British men. However, it is interesting because none of the times is very long.'
Experts at Utrecht University in the Netherlands studied 491 men in the five countries which, unfortunately, failed to include such legendary lovers as the French and the Italians. Over a four-week spell they were equipped with stopwatches to measure the time between penetration and ejaculation.
The average figure for all countries was five minutes 24 seconds, regardless of whether or not a condom was used.
There was, however, a significant age gap. Men aged between 18 and 30 lasted for six and a half minutes on average compared with just four minutes 20 seconds for those over the age of 51.