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Date : 14 October 2008 |
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| The Life First Paddleboard Challenge |
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Three RNLI volunteer lifeguards have just completed a large-scale paddleboarding challenge for the RNLI Life First campaign.
Rob Inett, Rory Smith and James Fletcher, accompanied by photographers Neil Aldridge and Alex Mason, took 10 days leave from their jobs at the end of September to travel the South West coast delivering the messages of the Life First campaign.
Travelling in the RNLI Life First VW camper and a Lifeguards patrol truck, the team set off from the Lifeboat College in Poole on Saturday 21st of June. Their first task was to paddle from Hengistbury Head to Sandbanks, a huge 16km paddle.
Taking advantage of the tide, the boys completed the distance in around 3 ½ hours, visiting most of the RNLI Lifeguard units in Poole bay, and also being joined on stretches of the paddle by lifesaving club volunteers from Branksome Chine and Bournemouth.
This first day ended on a high note as the team met up with both Poole Lifeboats on exercise off Sandbanks beach, where they were videoed for an online bloggers forum by guest crew on the boats.
This set the scene for the remaining nine days of the trip, as the two vehicles drove all around the SW coast, visiting an RNLI Lifeboat station every day. The team stayed overnight as guests at Lyme Regis, Penlee and St Agnes stations, and also at Exmouth Beach Rescue & South Worcestershire Lifeguard Clubs.
Every day, the team took to the waters to complete medium to long distance paddles, accompanied by support boats and photographers documenting the trip for the RNLI.
By the end of the 10 days, Rob, Rory and James had completed a GPS accumulation of 265km on the water, a staggering 88km (55miles) each. In all, the team launched off 18 beaches, as well as the slipway at Padstow Lifeboat station.
‘We all have taken time off our jobs to train for and do this project, and whilst it is obviously great fun, it is also extremely physically demanding. Most of the days were 16 or 18 hours long, and we were paddling on average 3 to 4 hours each day as well as driving and meeting many of the people we were visiting along the route’ stated Inett, Volunteer Development Manager for RNLI Lifeguards.
‘Paddling is pretty hard work on any water that isn’t dead flat. The weather has been very kind to us, although some venues, around Senne Cove and Lands End for example, were very windy and choppy, and 5km on the water can turn into a very laborious and tiring affair.’
The team rounded up their tour with special visits to Cardiff Bay, where they paddled the 10km course alongside the GB National Surf Ski race series, and were guests at Henley’s Leander Rowing Club where they paddled the Henley Royal Regatta course.
The team has subsequently been invited back to Leander in order for the Life First board to be signed by some of the Beijing Olympic rowing medallists who train out of the club.
At the end of the tour, the team had visited 8 Lifeboat stations, 16 RNLI Lifeguard Units, 6 Lifesaving clubs, 2 Fire Stations and 20 beaches. The photographers amassed over 6,500 images and 10hours of video documentary.
They drove exactly 1,000 miles, and finished by presenting a short video and slideshow to 45 RNLI staff members at the Lifeboat College on the day of their return. In all, the team estimate they spoke to two hundred people directly about the campaign, and were seen by several thousand.
As well as carrying out this voluntary tour, the team also organised a fundraising 24-hour indoor rowing marathon in Poole, which raised over £1,000 for the campaign. All of their equipment, including the unique double length paddleboard, is owned by the project trust that they set up and raised funds for last year.
‘Overall, the 2008 project was a great achievement, and we are proud to have been able to do something good for the campaign,’ summarised Inett, himself also a probationary volunteer crewman on the RNLI Poole Lifeboat.
‘Water safety is something that we all must be aware of, and it has been a real honour for us to meet and publicise the selfless work of so many of the people that we have encountered this past week.’
Rob, James and Rory are no strangers to endurance sports. Rob formerly competed at Commonwealth level in rowing, James for Great Britain at the World Triathlon Championships, and Rory internationally in long distance open water swimming and Lifesaving. The team are now thinking up a similar project for next year, perhaps with an unusual twist.
‘The aim of this project was always to raise the profile of the Life First campaign, and in this it has been very successful. We have had great media coverage, and many of the Lifeboat stations made use of our story and images of our visits to get themselves into the local media. We are currently working on a series of national magazine articles which will go a long way to spreading the messages further.’
The team are now preparing to run a series of winter talks on their experiences, as well as utilising some of the photographs and video documentary footage that they have produced to further raise funds and awareness of the RNLI as a charity that puts life first.
• The Board
The board was custom built in Woolacombe in 2006 by board shaper Alan Neighbour. It is hand shaped and crafted from Polystyrene and glassed in epoxy fibreglass. The graphics have been applied using a 3D vinyl wrapping process. The board measures 7m in length, and is believed to be the only board of its type to ever be built in Europe. It weighs approximately 23kg, and is fitted with water speed and temperature sensors, GPS and handheld VHF communications.
• Team member Rory Smith
Rory, 22, lives in Parkstone, Poole. Rory grew up in Poole and trained as a Lifeguard through Poole Lifeguard Club, and then worked for three seasons as an RNLI Lifeguard at Sandbanks and Shore Road beaches.
Rory graduated from Loughborough University in 2008 with a degree in Geography and has competed at junior international level in long distance open water swimming, and more recently at the 2008 World Lifesaving Championships in Berlin. Rory currently works for the RNLI as a Volunteer Development Officer.
• Team member Rob Inett
Rob, 26, lives in Parkstone, Poole. Rob grew up in Worcestershire, and trained as a lifeguard and rescue boat helm through South Worcestershire Lifeguard Club. Rob managed the club's fleet of three inland rescue boats for four years, culminating in the flood rescue efforts of 2007 in Evesham.
Rob graduated from Loughborough University in 2004 with a degree in Industrial Design & Technology. Rob rowed at the Royal Grammar School, Worcester with James Fletcher, and together the pair reached the final trials selection for the Great Britain Junior team in 2000. Rob went on to represent Wales in the single sculls at the Home International and Commonwealth Rowing Championships in 2002.
Rob represented Loughborough Students Lifesaving Club at the 2004 and 2006 World Lifesaving Championships, and the 2005 European Championships. Rob is a member of the GB record-holding 4x50m rescue medley relay team.
Rob currently works as Volunteer Development Manager for the RNLI Lifeguards, is a volunteer lifeguard at Bournemouth and a member of the RNLI Poole Lifeboat crew.
• Team member James Fletcher
James, 26, lives in Guildford, Surrey. James grew up in Evesham, Worcestershire, and trained as a Lifeguard through South Worcestershire Lifeguard Club. James was involved with the club in their rescue efforts in the 2007 floods in Evesham.
James graduated from the University of Leicester in 2007 with a Masters degree in Geographic Information Systems. James formerly rowed together with Rob Inett at the Royal Grammar School, Worcester, where the pair reached the final trials selection for the Great Britain Junior team in 2000.
James represented Great Britain U23's at the 2003 World Triathlon Championships in Madeira. James currently works for the Forestry Commission as a GIS mapper. James is currently training to be an RNLI volunteer lifeguard in Dorset in 2009, and is enrolled as an RNLI Lifeguard Support volunteer.
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