Our first thank you page to our sponsors

Over the last couple of weeks we've been saying thank you to our sponsors on Facebook to show our appreciation for the help and support they've given Les and The Ultimate Challenge.  We're aware that some of our supporters don't use Facebook so I'm putting the thank you messages on here in two sections, the first are as follows ...

Precise Sheet Metal

PRECISE SHEETMETAL ENGINEERING, founded in 1995 offer an efficient, reliable and cost-effective source for all sheet metal and engineering needs. The Ultimate Challenge has benefited greatly from their flexibility, expertise and first class service. Although the Jimnys are to be kept basically standard Robert Rickman and Nick have bought their engineering experience and expertise to ensure the Jimnys are equipped for some of the harsh geography they might travel through by fitting bespoke heavy duty bumpers, lightweight roof trays and a gate fitted to the back bumper to carry a spare wheel. Their years of experience has helped Les turn his ideas into quality upgrades for the Jimnys. The support doesn't end there though, the freedom they have given Les of their workshop and tools, time, tea and kitkats goes way beyond that of a sponsor. Les and the guys at Precise Sheetmetal Engineering have become firm friends. It's support like this that is the make or break many projects and we truly grateful for the depth and breadth of their support. 

We happily recommend anyone looking for engineering services to visit their website ….. http://precisesheetmetal.co.uk/index.html

Audiolink Ltd

Recognising that communications between the two Suzuki Jimnys during The Ultimate Challenge are crucial to team building and safety, we're really pleased to be sponsored by Audiolink Ltd.

The Two-way radios provided by Audiolink offer unique press-to-talk advantages that make this technology a great choice for the crew who need a flexible and reliable communication solution. It's perfect group and one to one communications, is rugged in design and will hold up in extreme environments and as the crew are all in their 70's the fact that the radios supplied by Audiolink are reliable and easy to use.

We are very grateful for the support from Cliff Davies at Audiolink and if you want to find out a little more their widely used products, visit their website … http://www.audiolink.co.uk/page/twowayradio

Castrol

Castrol is widely acknowledged as the worlds leading provider of lubricants. And we're delighted they are on board with The Ultimate Challenge.

Throughout the history of Castrol, they have constantly pushed the boundaries and are always up for a challenge. And a challenge this journey is going to be for Les and his crew. With over a hundred years of technological development Castrol has been driven by the restless spirit, a spirit matched by Les in his tireless drive to bring this project to fruition. They are innovators and pioneers in the development of world class oils and lubricants and we are thankful for their support.

A quote from Max Wilkinson, Castrol … "Great performance demands strength and stamina, something we at Castrol know all about from our motor racing partnerships. And that is why Castrol are proud sponsors of the Ultimate Challenge, supporting the team on their journey when they will be tested and pushed to the limit. Castrol wish you every success on your challenge!"

Castrol provide high quality oils and lubricants for the automotive, marine and aviation industries. To find out more about Castrol visit their website http://www.castrol.com/castrol/sectionbodycopy.do?categoryId=3205&contentId=7072854

Cooper Tires

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is a global competitor in the replacement tire industry, together with its affiliates, subsidiaries and joint ventures it has manufacturing facilities on three continents, sales and distribution networks around the world and products that meet and exceed the demands of the world's most dynamic markets.

The news section of Cooper Tires reads like the who's who of motoring challenges. Cooper tires helped Xavi Foj take his second consecutive T2 class title in the Dakar Rally in January and in the same rally the Race2Recovery team – made up of injured servicemen and able-bodied civilians – overcame the physical and mental demands of the 15-day challenge to become the first disability team to complete it.

It doesn't end there, Cooper Tires support motoring across an amazing spectrum from Formula Three, the FIA World Cup Cross Country Rally and the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge to name a few. We feel privileged that Cooper Tires have considered The Ultimate Challenge a worthy project to support. We are very grateful, not only for the tires they have supplied but for the expertise they have willingly shared.

Whether you're a normal road driver of motorsport participant we would urge you to visit their website and see for yourself the range of quality tires they supply …. http://www.coopertire.co.uk/

Beaulieu

Beaulieu , set in the heart of the New Forest National Park is home to the Montagu family. The name Beaulieu means 'beautiful place'. Formerly the 13th century Great Gatehouse of Beaulieu Abbey it overlooks the glorious Beaulieu River. Beaulieu houses a collection of over 250 automobiles and motorcycles, telling the story of motoring on the roads of Britian from the dawn of motoring to the present day. It was this connection that attracted Les to ask if he could use the beautiful backdrop of Beaulieu Palace as the location for The Ultimate Challenge's first official photo shoot. We're very grateful for their support to the Ultimate Challenge and would encourage everyone to visit Beaulieu and experience a fabulous day out …... http://www.beaulieu.co.uk/

JAG-UFS Group

Jag UFS Group Ltd is delighted to be part of The Ultimate Challenge. As worldwide shipping agents we have been able to provide the services for shipping the Suzuki Jimnys on the major sea voyages. Vladivostok to Japan. Japan to Seattle and New York to Antwerp.

As IATA registered air freight agents we have been able to provide the services offered by many airlines for the transport of the drivers and teams from many airports around the world. http://www.jagufs.com/

Ideal Forms

We are delighted to be working with Brian Shearsby and his wife Merian at Ideal Forms, his support in bringing Les' ideas to fruition, often at short notice has been a tremendous help to the Ultimate Challenge project. Brian has had to put up with Les popping in to ask him to print things or design something as though he had nothing else to do. We owe Brian a huge thankyou.

Brian and his team at Ideal Forms offer a full service agency across all spectrum of digital print. They are highly professional, easy to work with and their support and guidance in processing a clients print requirements without hassle or stress fosters trust and ensures all their customers feel highly valued.

We are extremely grateful for their support and would unreservedly recommend them to anyone considering a digital print project, visit their site and find out more about their superb services … http://idealforms.co.uk/

New Forest Signs

Trevor Strickland at New Forest Signs has worked extremely hard for the Ultimate Challenge. New Forest Signs has provided and is continuing to provide all the graphics on the Jimnys and on all the Sponsor Display Boards that Les and his team has used at the Road Shows during 2012. Trevor is a pleasure to work with, we really do value his sense of humour and input into the vehicles livery.

New Forest Signs has over 30 years experience in the sign trade & are now one of only a few companies who have a time served traditional sign writer. They have experience in both Traditional & Digital methods and a studio that can offer the latest in modern graphic design & display methods. They take great pride in their customer service, and always look to involve their customer from the design & production to completion.

We are very grateful for their support and encourage our readers to visit their site to find out more about their friendly services … http://newforestsigns.co.uk/index.htm

Bikers Yard

Bikers Yard are a rare company in the retail market today, they are a family owned and run, independent retailer. Based in Christchurch Dorset they supply high quality motorcycle clothing and accessories. Les always has one eye on safety so good quality crash helmets were a must for all the crew. Rod at Bikers Yard was only too happy to help Les out with his expertise in suggesting the right helmets for the journey.

At their shop in Christchurch they have an extensive range of motor cycling clothing, leathers and helmets, waterproofs and boots, gloves and trousers. They also have access to a wide range of trade contacts if there is anything you may need that is not available at the shop.

They pride themselves on a unique high quality service and Les and his crew have benefited from that and are grateful to Rod and his team for their support in the Ultimate Challenge.

You can contact Rod, Scott or Jane for advice on 01202 496006 or you can visit their website ….http://www.bikers-yard.co.uk/

Towsure

As Les and the crew will be camping for many of their overnight stops throughout their gruelling journey and they needed good quality outdoor equipment to afford comfort for their old bones. Ben Chandler at Towsure Southampton knew just what was needed and sponsored the Ultimate Challenge by supplying all the outdoor equipment they would need at a generous discount.

Towsure have been suppliers of everything outdoor since 1967 and has grown to become the United Kingdom's leading towing and outdoor leisure store. With more brands and more ranges continually becoming available they are growing like no other leisure company. Whilst remaining a family run company they are committed to offering quality, service, value and variety and we are very grateful for their support.

To see for yourself just how extensive a range of products they provide visit their website ….. http://www.towsure.com  Ben will be very happy to see you.

A new crew member for the Ultimate Challenge

Graham Higgins is the newest member of the The Ultimate Challenge crew. At 68 he's the also the youngest. 

Graham has been married to his wife Gill for 43 years and they have five children, the oldest now 40, the youngest 28.

Graham had an interesting working life in the computer industry, the last 25 years as I.T. Manager for a commodity trading company in London. He travelled extensively to company offices and mining facilities around the world.

Graham retired 8 years ago and has continued to travel as much as possible. He particularly enjoys exploring away from the normal tourist routes and getting as close as possible to the local people and customs, getting to know their way of life.

“It's probably the combination of the travel bug and the fact that we'll be driving routes not easily accessible to the individual that attracted me to The Ultimate Challenge. The charity Heaven Can Wait I'm Busy sums up the way I look at life, and I'm excited to be combining my love of a challenge with being able to give something back to society.”

Crew Training Days

Hi Guys, I have finally been cornered by Maureen; she fixed me with a steel like stare over the phone and said it’s about time you did something for the blog. Trust me you don’t mess with Maureen so here I am. We have over the past weeks been building up to the pre-planned training days February 12^th and 13^th, these dates had been set aside specifically for the crew to have a good look at the equipment, see how it all works, to discuss the route and itinerary and finalising the changeover locations for crew arriving and those returning home. We had to spend some time on this as we have changed the journey slightly. We have arranged the journey into four stages of 24 and 34 days, each stage has two crew seats, allowing us to make three more seat available so that more people can take part. If you would like to join us give me a call before 22^nd Feb or after 2^nd March on 01590 718611.

A few days ago we organised for all the crew to have an hour with an advanced driving instructor, just to see if we had any bad habits that needed sorting out, and to get the best out of the vehicles. My driving wasn’t that bad!! but I didn't have a clue about some of the questions he asked me. Anyway, we come to an agreement after I said to him that if he wants to get paid he had better not put to many crosses on my pass paper.

Back to the training days. We started Day 1, dealing with matters relating to the route, we then spent time having a close look at the vehicle, overall weight, full fuel, two people on board and fully kitted out. We will be running at about 100kilos over weight so to compensate for this we have fitted up rated springs and shocks, and larger tyres. To make sure it all works I loaded one of the Jimnys with 180 kilos of engineering bricks to simulate a loaded vehicle and drove it for some time. Apart from doing plenty of gear work up hill it pulled ok. Although I would like to lighten the load a bit if I can.

We dealt with the rest of the non-interesting matters and moved onto looking at the Tom Tom’s, Satnavs, two way radios that will allow us to talk to each other as we are driving and the satellite phone so we can keep in touch with the folks at home. We then turned our attention to erecting one of the tents on a bit of grass, we had already been shown by Towsure the supplier how to erect the tent a few days before, but it made no difference, we went at the task like the guys out of the LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE. It started with two of us tackling the job with precision movements ending with five of us all pulling against each other; it was not a pretty site. One was heard to say, can we sleep in the open, someone else mentioned about taking a caravan with us, are there any hotels in Mongolia! We got there in the end though and had a lark at the same time.

After lunch it was the turn of the St Johns Ambulance to teach us how to look after ourselves and anybody else that comes along that we could practice on. We are all qualified doctors now so don’t stand near any of us and cough, we will have your appendix out before you know what has happened. 

On a more responsible note we take all the training and preparation very seriously and we are doing everything possible to prepare ourselves for the task ahead. What we are doing will test the ability of people half our age, we can do everything they can do, but it will takes us longer.

Keep Smiling Les Carvall.

We are not all mad only some of us ....

Just before Christmas my lovely wife Vi,( I have to say that otherwise I won’t get any dinner tonight ) and myself decided that we both needed a break. Vi booked a few days over Christmas on the island of Grand Caneria, on the condition that I would not take any work with me. When the time come to pack the bags I put some paper work at the bottom of Vi’s case and covered it over, there was always a chance that she would check my bag to make sure I was complying with her instruction but not likely that she would check her bag. I couldn’t see myself sitting there day after day doing nothing. Anyway we got there and settled in at a place called Mogan, the next day, and being a boating man we found ourselves walking around the little harbour, I have to say what a pretty pleasant place Mogan is.

With my interest in boats, harbours always attract me. This particular morning we noticed that a Land Rover Discovery had turned up towing a huge trailer with two ocean going rowing boats. Titon the six man crew 35ft long boat was on the bottom, and Pacific Pete the 7 Metre single man boat was on a frame above.

A day or two later I had an opportunity to speak to both skippers.

Titon skippered by Simon Chalk and his crew are out to try and break the record standing at 32 days from the Canaries to Barbados. His crew were young guys and all muscle, they were due to set off around the 12^th Jan. Simons partner Gemma will be in touch throughout the passage.

Pacific Pet is crewed by Geoff Allum, Geoff is a veteran rower and completed many crossings of one sort or another. At 68 Geoff said to me that he wanted to give it one more shot and expects to take around 75 days and leaving at the same time. There is no electronics on the boat, the only appliance is a small water maker. I think it will be very challenging for him and a worrying time for his wife Jane. GOOD LUCK TO THEM BOTH on their 2,550 nautical mile journey. Les.

Trials and tribulations

There are times during the project when it seems like we are trying to push a wheelbarrow up a greasy plank, you know how it is, you're running like hell but getting no where. There's Maureen doing Press and PR and Keith doing web and technical and then there's me doing the odd job or two. We could do with more people helping out at times. With little over 9 weeks to go there's still a lot to get done before we depart.

The journey is split into stages and we have 2 crew spaces for each stage. There are still 3 spaces available so if you're in or around your 70's why not make your contribution and join us for an experience of a lifetime, you'll be warmly welcome.

To get back to what I should be talking about, the ups and downs of putting a project of this size together, it’s a constant battle trying to get things right, you know what I mean two steps forward one back. Anyway we were working with Alun Parry from Suzuki to put a professional photo shoot together to go with our Press Releases. I was responsible for getting the Jimnys ready, the crew organized to be available on the day and above all, to talk the guys at the Beaulieu Motor Museum to see if we could use Beaulieu Palace as a back drop for the shoot. They're a great bunch of people and agreed straight away. One last job I had to do the day before the shoot was to make sure our graphics man fit our twitter address @JimnyChallenge to the vehicle windscreens and side windows.

The day of the shoot came, a perfect sunny day, blue sky, the crew and the photographer all arrived on time, and everything was perfect. I was strutting around like a dog with two tails, life is wonderful. We had a great day. Driving back home after the shoot thinking that it’s not that bad, things do go wrong sometimes but when it goes right we can forget the rest. I arrived home wagging my two tails waiting for my wife to tell me “who’s a clever boy then" but instead she said “how long has Jimny been spelt with E?” I looked to where she was pointing and I couldn't believe it, how is it possible that NOBODY noticed it. I felt sick, and minus one tail!! I phoned Trevor who deals with our graphics to ask how this could happen and he confessed to me that he is a bit dyslexic! What could I say. Forget what I said about life being wonderful.

All was not lost though, thanks to technology all the E's were been removed on the photos and they could still be used.

Les.

Project Conference

An update from the Project Director Les Carvall …

November the 16th was an uplifting day for the guys who will take part in, The Ultimate Challenge, to drive around the world in aid of charity. I have made a point throughout the period of the project of coming together and keeping everybody informed as to our progress and what I'm currently involved in. The project has been driven forward in this way for a year or so and it seemed to work OK. However Charles, one of our crew members, mentioned some time ago that it would be a good idea to have our next meeting at a neutral venue rather than at one of our houses. With that in mind we met at the Novatel at Southampton for what was to be our first conference.

There were five of us sitting around the table and I have to say everybody got a great lift out of being together to review what we have achieved and discussing what lies ahead. We were able to spend time analysing all aspects of the training programme, the progress as far as preparation of the vehicles, the route and the itinerary. Talking about the route and itinerary, the question was raised about security. If we travel with only two vehicles there is limited security provision. We generally agreed that to reduce the security risk we should include a support vehicle and a guide/translator to accompany the crew through high risk areas. The third vehicle is also important to accommodate the camera man and equipment to ensure the quality of the film being made of the journey 'While We Have Time'. Making the decision to do this is easy, finding the money to pay for it, not so easy.

Finding sponsors at this time is difficult, the basic journey will be paid for by those taking part, one of our tasks now is to talk to sponsors to raise money for the third vehicle and crew. All in all the conference was a success it brought every one closer together.

Les Carvall Project Director

Those around the table Les , Alan, Charles, Roger, Peter, and Glyn behind the camera

The London logo looks good on the Jimny

Les has been working hard with the Mayor of London's office to secure the use of the Greater London Authority logo on the bonnet of one of the Jimny's.  Now that everyone is happy with the way it looks we can show everyone, we think it looks rather good.

We're excited to be promoting London and all our sponsors as the Jimny's journey around the world.  As time counts down now until they leave from Trafalgar Square in London we should see remaining spaces on the vehicles rapidly fill up.