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HomeSportsPrincess Charlene brings Riviera Water Bike Challenge to Monaco
Princess Charlene brings Riviera Water Bike Challenge to Monaco
By Nancy Heslin - May 25, 2017
Princess Charlene has been training in Monaco on the Schiller S1 water bike since Christmas. Photo: Kasia Wandycz/Palais Princier
In a world premier sporting event, Monaco will host the Riviera Water Bike Challenge (RWBC) on Sunday, June 4, 2017, in support of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation.
Leaving the port of Nice and heading east to arrive at the prestigious Monaco Yacht Club, 40 participants will make up 10 international teams pedalling Schiller S1 water bikes in a 21-kilometre relay race. There will be two sports personalities per team plus two places available for amateurs, to be selected by raffle on March 24.
The Schiller S1 water bike, developed by American Judah Schiller, reportedly on a dare, “uses an optimised propeller, proprietary gear box and Gates Carbon Drive belts”. It’s essentially a bike atop of parallel hulls, much like a catamaran, with a 2-foot (0.6 metre) wide frame. In calm waters, the average speed is 8 mph, although pros can reach more than 10 mph.
Mr Schiller attended the Monaco Yacht Show two years ago with a prototype of the human-powered watercraft that happened to catch the eye of Gareth Wittstock.
Mr Wittstock, who is also involved in this month’s South Africa-Monaco Rugby Exchange, eventually took the Schiller S1 water bike out for a spin at Larvotto Beach. He was hooked.
He came up with the idea of the first-ever water bike relay race, a fundraiser, with all of the proceeds to go to his sister’s charity, the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, established in 2012 to educate children in water safety and provide swimming lessons.
Monies raised from the Riviera Water Bike Challenge will go towards the relocation of the Monegasque Pavilion from the Expo Milano 2015 to Loumbila, Burkina Faso, where it will be reconstructed as a first aid and CPR training complex.
This project, a joint partnership with the Foundation, the Monaco Red Cross and the Burkinabe Red Cross, will include an Aquatic Rescue Center, as financed by the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, to allow the training of “rescuers and lifeguards from Burkina Faso and other countries in the region”. Director of Aquatic Rescue Center of Monaco, Pierre Frolla, an ambassador to the Foundation, as well as four-time freediving world record holder, will oversee the development.
The mission will include a water-safety programme and swimming lessons available to the thousand local high school students, many of whom have never had an opportunity to be in a pool, but are often at risk of drowning during floods.
To bring attention to the Riviera Water Bike Challenge, Princess Charlene will be hosting a benefit gala, her first in fact, on Friday, March 24, at the Monaco Yacht Club.
In addition to an evening in the company of the Princely couple and prominent sports personalities, several spots to participate in the inaugural June relay will be raffled off, as well as the ten Schiller S1 bikes that will be raced on the day. There are a limited number of gala tables available in three packages: Ruby, Sapphire, and Diamond. To reserve, contact rwbc2017@gmail.com
A test day is planned for April at the Monaco Yacht Club, where people can drop by to see the Schiller S1.
Christos Fiotakis, who represented Greece in the 100m sprints and now runs Elite Fitness Monaco, with a clientele that includes Felipe Massa, raves about the S1 water bike. “My thighs exploded,” he told Monaco Life.
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It was a Monaco Grand Prix weekend like no other, with not a single car racing around the Principality save for a Ferrari being driven by Charles Leclerc with Prince Albert in the passenger seat.
[caption id="attachment_13645" align="aligncenter" width="938"] Photo: Instagram briatoreflavio[/caption]
Former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone was the guest of honour at a surprise party in London this week, organised by Monaco personality and former team boss Flavio Briatore.
Mr Briatore had no problem in assembling top F1 personalities to celebrate the career of the former Grand Prix supremo, who was removed from his executive post earlier this year following the takeover by Liberty Media.
Attending the party were Prince Albert, former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. Mr Briatore said later on Instagram: "I organised a 'surprise dinner' in London for the 40 years in Formula 1 of Bernie Ecclestone. The amazing thing is that all the people I invited were present. Normally, if you invite 100 people, you have 60 people who confirm they can attend because you are talking about people that are very busy – or who live many thousands of kilometres away.
"But everybody came to London, including Prince Albert of Monaco, Prince Salman of Bahrain, Stefano Domenicali, Piero Ferrari, David Coulthard, Max Mosley, Niki Lauda, and many other people.”
Stating that it was a “kind of tribute to Bernie's career”, Mr Briatore added, “He was not treated well by the new Formula 1 bosses. People forget easily what this man has created. It was a bit of a sad evening, but very beautiful.”