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Brotherhood Breaks World Record And Wins World’s First Cross Channel Dragon Boat Race

- over £130,000 raised for charity – world record smashed by hours -

25 August 2007

The Brotherhood an all male team of amateur dragon boaters beat the all female Sisterhood team in world’s first ever dragon boat race across the English Channel which took place today and set a new world record for the crossing of 3hrs, 30mins and 52 seconds. The Sisterhood finished in 3 hours and 42 minutes securing world record for the fastest all women team crossing a dragon boat. Both teams have together raised over £130,000 for children’s charities; the CHASE Ben Hollioake Fund for life limited children and Babes In Arms, which funds research into cot death and infant death.

The teams paddled across the Channel from Shakespeare’s Beach, Dover, to Wissant Beach, France, in an epic battle of ‘brawn v beauty’ directly thorough one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes with 80 ferries and over 600 commercial ships crossing every 24 hours. The Brotherhood became world record holders in style, assisted by Oakley sunglasses, North Face kit and hydrated by Lucozade Sport. Lynx Sport Management provided the safety craft during the crossing and the team was sponsored by Thompson Online Benefits, Wicked Vision and Possible Design.

The Brotherhood, on sighting land, paddled hard for the beach, but due to ‘tidal drift’ [definitely not a navigational error] were some way off the appointed finish. There followed a mad dash for the line, with the Sisterhood coming straight towards the finish and the Brotherhood coming at a ninety degree angle - travelling parallel to the French coast.

The Brotherhood could have landed away from the finish line to set the new record, but loosing to the girls (by not crossing the dedicated finish line) and the national humiliation this would have bought, crossing the line was considered more important!

The Brotherhood piped the girls by 12minutess and were met by a bemused French holiday makers, who asked immediately asked if the team was the famous ‘Sisterhood’ and where was Kate Middleton. The Sisterhood arrived stylishly late and, after the celebrations and champagne, made numerous lame gags about the Brotherhood’s sense of direction, map reading in general the why the team had paddled a banana shaped course.

The existing record for a dragon boat crossing stood at seven hours 45 minutes. The Brotherhood smashed the record by over three hours.

The race, dreamt up by the Brotherhood, was a world first.

The team was formed, and the Channel Challenge dreamt up, by the Brotherhood following a remarkable victory in the 2006 Great River Race – a 22 mile race from Richmond to Greenwich on the Thames. The Brotherhood started over a hour behind the other 200 competing teams and nearly sank three times as they burned (or paddled) though the field. At Tower Bridge, forced to bail ‘like crazy’ by a raging river, they beat the only dragon boat ahead, The GB Masters team, (that sunk) to win fastest dragon boat and third over all in a time of 2 hours 24 minutes. Not bad for a group of guys who had never sat in dragon boat until 11 weeks before the race.

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Kate Middleton’s Sisterhood Set For A Spanking

FRIDAY 3 August, 2007

Sisterhood Set For A Spanking // Battle Commences On The Thames // Brotherhood Dragon Boat Squad Announced // Sisterhood Rams Brotherhood Boat in Training

The Brotherhood, the all male monk-robe-wearing charity dragon boat team primed to race the all women Sisterhood across the Channel, has revealed its squad of 20 burly ‘brothers’, set to give the Sisters a sound beating.

The Channel Challenge is an epic battle of ‘beauty v brawn’ and the first ever race of its kind is seeking raise over £100k for to children’s charities The CHASE Ben Hollioake Fund for life limited children and Babes In Arms,which funds research into cot death and infant death. Both teams recently visited the CHASE hospice for terminally ill children. It was a highly moving experience, especially when seeing the dedicated staff bring happiness and comfort to desperately sick children and their families. This remarkable place gets little or no Government support yet has to raise £3m every year just to keep running.

In addition to raising money, The Brotherhood is currently try to recoup losses following robbery of charity funds. [see below].

The Channel Challenge was dreamt up by The Brotherhood: www.brotherhoodchallenge.com. The teams will paddle from Dover to Calais
across 21 miles of open sea and directly thorough one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes with 80 ferries and over 600 commercial ships crossing every
24 hours. Both teams are attempting to break the World Record for a dragon boat crossing which stands at seven hours 45 minutes and raise a staggering
sum for charity. The gauntlet – or paddle – was firmly thrown down this week when the Sisterhood rammed the Brotherhood boat, attempting to sink it,
during an enthusiastic training session. However, the Brothers face a far bigger challenge than dangerous driving – capsizing…

Dragon boats are not designed for open water and can capsize when hit by a wave. A team of big (yet awfully handsome) Brothers makes the problem worse
as the boat sits lower in the water making it prone to capsizing as well as harder to paddle.

In readiness of many foreseen dunkings during the race the Brotherhood has been training on the Thames and at sea. But countless training hours behind the paddle has revealed a more acute problem – wooden seats and numb bums.

The Brotherhood squad consists of 20 young professionals from across London ranging from 23 – 35 years old, all ready to paddle for victory. A few characters include:

A cross Atlantic rower
Nigel Ben’s sparing partner
London bankers
Marathon runners
The world’s largest boomerang manufacturer (who keeps coming back for more)

The Brotherhood squad is detailed at: www.brotherhoodchallenge.com

The Channel Challenge dreamt up, by the Brotherhood following a remarkable victory in the 2006 Great River Race – a 22 mile race from Richmond to
Greenwich on the Thames. The Brotherhood started over a hour behind the other 200 competing teams and nearly sank three times as they burned (or paddled)
though the field. At Tower Bridge, forced to bail ‘like crazy’ by a raging river, they beat the only dragon boat ahead, The GB Masters team, (that sunk)
to win fastest dragon boat and third over all in a time of 2 hours 24 minutes. Not bad for a group of guys who had never sat in dragon boat until
11 weeks before the race – and turned up an hour late: A mistake that won’t be repeated for the Channel Challenge.

Donations and support:

The Brotherhood is calling on all Londoners to help support the race. Public donations and sponsorship for the race go directly to charities CHASE Ben Hollioake Fund and Babes In Arms. Donate online: http://www.justgiving.com/brotherhoodchannelchallenge

Thieves steal charity proceeds and personal belongings

On Thursday 26 July thieves broke into cars belonging to the Brotherhood while the squad was training on the Thames. The thieves stole charity proceeds amounting to several hundred pounds that had been collected during the week as well as personal valuables, wallets, mobile phones and bicycles. The thefts took place between approximately 20:00 – 21:30hrs outside the Chiswick Boat House, Barnes Bridge, London.

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Kate Middleton’s Challengers Robbed

0157, FRIDAY 27 July, 2007

…Brotherhood Dragon Boat Squad Robbed of Charity Funds During World Record Attempt Training…

The Brotherhood, the monk-robe-wearing charity dragon boat team set to race Kate Middleton’s Sisterhood team across the Channel, was robbed tonight while training on the Thames.

Thieves broke into cars belonging to the 18 strong squad taking charity proceeds that had been collected during the week as well as personal valuables, wallets and mobile phones. The loss to the charities has not yet been counted but is expected to run in the high hundreds.

The thefts took place between approximately 20:00 – 21:30hrs outside the Chiswick Boat House, Barnes Bridge, London on Thursday 26 July.

The Brotherhood – (www.brotherhoodchallenge.com) - an all male dragon boat squad, is set to race the all female Sisterhood, helmed by Kate Middleton across the English Channel to raise £100,000 for children’s charities, The CHASE Ben Hollioake Fund for life limited children and Babes In Arms, which funds research into cot death and infant death.

This battle of ‘beauty v brawn’ is the first ever race of its kind and takes place on the weekend of 25 August. Both teams are attempting to break the World Record for a dragon boat crossing which stands at seven hours 45 minutes.

Full details on the race, The Brotherhood and the charities it is supporting can be found at www.brotherhoodchallenge.com

Donations and support:

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