RS Aero Cycle Challenge: This isn't your average charity bike ride, it's literally a boatload harder
by RS Sailing 15 Aug 2024 12:22 UTC
11-13 September 2024
RS Aero Cycle Challenge © RS Sailing
Four members of the RS Team are taking on a crazy challenge in memory of our much-loved friend and colleague, Maciej Nowaczyk, who sadly lost his fight with cancer earlier this year.
From the 11th to the 13th of September, the team of four will cycle from Coningsby, Lincolnshire, to Southampton International Boat Show in Hampshire. Towing an RS Aero between them will make the 200-mile distance over three days even more challenging.
Maciej was a dedicated and integral part of the RS team since 2014, helping to dispatch and deliver thousands of boats around the world. His favourite job was to deliver new boats to excited customers in the UK, visiting new places and mixing with the sailing community. So, the RS Team decided to ride the 200 miles in his honour, making his final delivery one to remember.
The RS Aero Cycle Challenge is fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support. Macmillan give people with cancer everything they've got. If you're diagnosed, your worries are Macmillan's worries. Macmillan do whatever it takes, and this is the mantra the team will take with them as they take on the challenge.
RS Marine Group's Production Director, Richard Frost, is the brainchild of this challenge commented "Maciej was the kind of man who would get in to the office at 4am just to help you reverse the exhibition vans in after a 24 hour journey back from the continent. He cared about the business and he cared about the people. He would put in the hours to make other's lives easier. Cycling 200 miles towing an RS in his honour is the least we can do".
Two hundred miles and 5,000ft of elevation is a colossal route for even the most experienced of riders, but the team wanted to push the boundaries to celebrate the determination and grit that Maciej Nowaczyk showed in his work and his battle with cancer.
The RS Aero is 4m long & 1.5m wide - it is revolutionary on the water. The super lightweight and aerodynamic nature of the RS Aero hull means it's definitely one of the better dinghies to tow behind a road bike. However, that doesn't take anything away from the fact that the team will be towing a boat and trailer behind a road bike. All up, the RS Aero will be over 60kg, and the width will reduce the team's ability to use cycle paths, which adds a further dynamic to this already colossal challenge.
Determined to raise tens of thousands of pounds for Macmillan, the RS Team are looking for your support. Whether it's a personal £1 donation or your business would like to be a platinum sponsor, they hope their challenge inspires you to support Macmillan, who are always there for people during some of the most challenging times in their lives.