Pains Wessex sponsors charity Irish Sea crossing

One of the world’s top marine distress signal brands, Pains Wessex is sponsoring a charity fundraising bid to ‘walk on water’ across the Irish Sea.

Adventurer, engineer and athlete Chris Todd, from Wiltshire, is planning to walk non-stop across 66 miles of the Irish Sea from Wales to Ireland in a giant human ‘hamster wheel’ suspended between two kayaks in a bid to raise £20,000 for the Wiltshire Blind Association and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Pains Wessex is providing Chris with emergency flare packs in case he gets into difficulty during the epic crossing, which could take 48 hours.

Chris said, “The Irish Sea Crossing is on the very edge of what I believe is possible, with many unknowns and there is no guarantee of success.  This is a serious challenge to support serious charities.  I estimate that it will be like running roughly 10 back-to-back marathons.

“The flares being provided by Pains Wessex could be critical if I was in a potential collision situation or if I needed to be rescued, but I hope we will not have to face such emergencies.  However, we wouldn’t be undertaking a sea going trip like this without the safety signals.

“A big worry is not being seen at night by other vessels. The flares will offer visibility in case I have to make my presence known or I lose contact with my safety boat.”

Chris said the idea of the human hamster wheel challenge came to him while he was rowing across a lake. He initially wanted to walk across the English Channel, but regulations and high costs made it impossible.

The attempt will be made sometime early in September when the weather and sea conditions are favourable.

The Pains Wessex brand is manufactured by Drew Marine Signal and Safety. Top marine safety specialist Drew Marine recently acquired the business that previously operated as Chemring Marine.

Wiltshire Blind Association is a registered charity which currently supports over 1,500 registered blind and partially-sighted people throughout Wiltshire to live as full a life as possible.

The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea, it provides an on call, 24-hour lifeboat search and rescue service and a seasonal lifeguard service.

Full details about the crossing can be found on Chris’ website at www.irishseacrossing.co.uk.  To sponsor Chris visit, www.irishseacrossing.co.uk/ISC_donate.html or for details about Pains Wessex go to, http://www.painswessex.com/