Visit : www.london-monaco.cc/

I've been riding a push bike for more than 40yrs but that probably counts for nothing when you're challenged to ride 1500km from London to Monaco !!

I'm very proud to be taking up position as Winch Design's oldest rider (!) as I join up to 40 other riders taking part in our incredible London to Monaco cycle challenge on 18 – 27 September 2016 to raise money for the Blue Marine Foundation.

The ride is a gruelling 1500km (!!!) with only brief stops for a Mars bar !  We begin at Tower Bridge in the heart of London on Sun 18th Sept., arriving (hopefully!) in Monaco 10 days later, greeted by HRH Prince Albert of Monaco who is kindly lending his support to our event.

This is going to be a tough, tough challenge of determination against saddle-soreness !!  but all for a fantastic cause which is critically important for everyone who enjoys our oceans, ie. Everyone !!  Having been designing the yachts of the seas for over 20yrs, I feel a personal obligation to help this incredibly worthy cause.

So please give generously and you'll make all the pain worthwhile !

The Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) is working to solve the crisis of overfishing by creating marine reserves –parts of the ocean that are protected so that fish and biodiversity can recover.

Over-fishing represents a major food security issue and has devastating consequences for the fragile biodiversity of our planet. Around 90% of global fish stocks are fully or over-exploited and around 90% of large fish are gone. The consequences are far-reaching, not only for the future of food for a growing global population, but because healthy oceans absorb half the CO2 we produce.

BLUE’s aim is to put 10% of the world’s oceans under protection by 2020 and 30% by 2030.

Funds raised from the event will go towards two projects that will contribute significantly to ocean protection:

The beautiful Aeolian Islands to the north of Sicily are being threatened by overfishing and irresponsible tourism.

Funds raised from the cycle ride will go towards projects which will:

Build eco-moorings for sailing vessels so they don’t damage the sea grass beds when they anchor;
Monitor and protect endangered marine species such as sperm whales and dolphins;
Enhance fish reproduction through site-specific protection/zoning;
Reduce the number of ‘ghost’ nets (discarded nets which trap species such as loggerhead turtles).

The remote island of Ascension in the tropical Atlantic is home to some of the biggest fish in the world, sharks, turtles and rare sea birds, but was being plundered by long-line fishing. The UK government has just
declared half Ascension’s waters protected from fishing, but the Ascension islanders rely on income from fishing licences.

Funds raised from the cycle ride will support BLUE’s work to open up other sources of income on the island, particularly science and eco-tourism so that 100% of the island’s waters (nearly twice the size of the UK) can become a marine protected area.

Thank you so much for your support.