The Challenge
London – Dakar 2009 : Charity Surfing Expedition
The high-rollers of the Paris-Dakar rally are skipping Africa this year but the London Surf Club is undaunted and will be taking part in the ever prestigious Plymouth-Dakar banger challenge this January.
They will ride the waves to Dakar raising money for UNICEF & SurfAid while their low budget battered cars race along the coast. The intrepid team is in search of rallying glory as well as the legendary surf breaks of West Africa, where the wrecks of Barbary Corsair ships are said to have made some of the best waves in the world.
The Sahara Desert isn’t the place you’d normally head with a surfboard. However on the 10th January 2009 the London Surf Club’s Sahara Surf team will wax up and do exactly that. They will drive, sweat and surf their way over 4,000 miles from London to West Africa, searching for known, rumoured and unknown waves in this landscape of sand, nomads and burning sun. Morocco is famous for its epic surf spots, while further south far less is known of disputed Western Sahara or Mauritania, where the team must cross the vast and remote Sahara desert. The final destination is Bamako, Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, where the vehicles will be auctioned for charity.
In days of yore sailing ships plied the Barbary Coast with their cargoes of slaves and now their shipwrecks haunt the coastline. Legends speak of rotting galleons sitting in the surf off pristine beaches hidden from human eyes by 20th century minefields and hundreds of miles of dry merciless desert. As Atlantic swells pound these wrecks stories tell of the creation fantastic waves, fast powerful barrels – the stuff of surfing dreams and beach party tales.
With the big budget Paris-Dakar Rally called off this year, focus will turn to the Plymouth-Dakar Challenge, the credit-crunch version of the famous race. Shoe-string adventurers, many with vehicles costing under £100, will be taking part in the name of charity. Once they reach their goal the cars, much needed in West Africa, will be donated to local auctions to raise money for worthy causes.
Sahara Surf will be fundraising for nominated charities SurfAid International &
UNICEF. Team coordinator Jerry Aylmer says: “Taking part in the Plymouth-Dakar has been a personal ambition for a number of years and having the opportunity to do it as a surf safari to raise money for these excellent organisations is fantastic”. Companies and individuals are being encouraged to sponsor the team with 100% of the money raised going to the charities - team members will pay their own costs. In addition to the team’s vehicles being donated at the finish, their surfboards will not make the return journey either. They will be given away to the surf hungry Senegalese youth desperate to be in the water and to have the opportunity to be a part of this wonderful fast growing sport.
The eyes of the world will be focused on the continent of Africa for the World Cup of 2010. With this in mind Sahara Surf in partnership with Junior Soccer Coach will also be giving away a car load of footballs along the route.
You can follow this epic journey online: The Sahara Surf team will be sending blog updates to this website and uploading video footage of their sand and surf odyssey as they go.
