Land Rover BAR set to begin their Sport Relief 'Grind-athon'
by Land Rover BAR 22 Mar 2018 18:38 GMT
Sport Relief 'Grind-athon' © Land Rover BAR
This evening, at 2200, Land Rover BAR start their epic Sport Relief Challenge; a 24 hour 'Grind-athon' hosted at the team HQ, Old Portsmouth. The team - supported by members of the Royal Navy Rugby Team - will host a non-stop 'grinding' relay across three grinding machines, with one team member, Tim Carter, manning a fourth grinding station non-stop for 24 hours.
The America's Cup is a both a design and sporting competition and in the last edition human power enabled the Cup boat to 'fly' and a grinders role on-board was the 'engine'; by grinding handles that power the winch and hydraulic system, the boats were are able to lift up and out of the water on foils. During the 25-minute race a grinders heart rate is on average 164 bpm, with a max of 184 bpm.
To support the 'grinders' in their non-stop challenge, from 1000 on Friday 23rd, Bestival Founder Rob da Bank and Longplay's Tim Weeks, will host a 12 hour supporters ' disco-spinathon'. Participants include the team, the Royal Navy, the Army, Portsmouth University, Portsmouth Football Club, Emirates Spinnaker Tower, The Kings Theatre and the 1851 Trust alongside local schools, businesses and sailing clubs.
The team's efforts are all in aid of Sport Relief. Sport Relief is a nationwide campaign to encourage the nation to get active alongside raising money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world's poorest countries. The team has set a fundraising target of £18,510k. 1851 is a significant date for the team, the year America's Cup first started with a race around the Isle of Wight. A British Challenger has never won the America's Cup.
Lady Georgie Ainslie will host live updates on the Land Rover BAR social media channels throughout the challenge, head to facebook.com/landroverbar.