Four members of the RS Marine Group team are taking on a challenge in memory of their 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 in Lincolnshire to the 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 has been a dedicated and integral part of the internationally renowned RS Marine Group 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 gives 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.
Richard Frost, RS Marine Group’s Production Director, and brainchild of this challenge, said: “Maciej was the kind of man who would get into the office at 4am just to help you reverse the exhibition vans 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 an intense 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. Therefore, the team will be towing an RS Aero, which is 4m long and 1.5m wide. While it is renowned for being 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 lugging 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 support. Whether it’s a personal £1 donation or a business that would like to be a platinum sponsor, they hope their challenge inspires others to support Macmillan – who are always there for people during some of the most challenging times in their lives.
Find out more: www.rssailing.com/rsaerocyclechallenge
To donate: www.justgiving.com/page/rsaerocyclechallenge
To become a sponsor: www.rssailing.com/rsaerocyclechallenge
