Well, it’s been about 6 months since Simon and I started putting together the plan to be the first team to hovercraft to the North Pole, and things have progressed rapidly. At the turn of this year we had but a concept, and now we have a fully formed plan.

Many people ask me, having walked to the North Pole last year, why on earth would I want to send myself up there again.

The answer is simple.

Walking to North Pole was an “adventure”, hovercrafting is an “exploration”.

The difference you may ask? Taking a look at a dictionary the definition of adventure is described as a “participation in hazardous or exciting experiences”. This is very much what racing to the North Pole was like, especially when I remember the polar bears, -40 degree weather, and the fact I lost 2 stone in weight in getting there!

However, an “exploration” is defined as being the act of “searching or travelling for the purpose of discovery”. This is essence of what hovercrafting to the pole embodies to me. Using a hovercraft in such an isolated environment has never been done before, and in itself will be a world first. This is exploration.

We’ve already had many highs and lows putting the project together. We’ve had some fantastic support from the local and national press, and the time that we’ve spent with BARB learning the ropes with flying the craft that we will be using on our way to the pole has been both invaluable and incredibly entertaining. We just hope that we can help the team at BARB by raising a substantial amount of funds for them.

The lows? Well, Simon has talked before about the fact that sending a team and a hovercraft to the North Pole is an expensive task. So far its been tough to raise the funds, but we are getting there slowly but surely. Whether we will hit our deadline of raising our total by the year end is too early to say, but the benefit of all our previous planning means that we will still be able to easily undertake the expedition in the future.

We have been involved in a huge amount of events recently, including the press, as well as presenting to the Hovercraft Club of Great Britain. This weekend we will be down at Burnham-on-Sea at the Escape Day, presenting the crew from BARB.

There’s a quick update from us. Hopefully in the coming months you’ll see many more updates on the website from some of other bits and pieces that we currently have in the pipeline. If you’re interested in getting involved with supporting the team, then please just drop us a line.