Sunseeker International supports Blue Marine

Sunseeker International is sponsoring the Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) 2021 South Coast Challenge. The event will see cyclists cover 210 miles across three days from 9th July 2021, along the south coast.

A team of four Sunseeker employees will participate in the challenge to help raise funds for BLUE, the UK-based charity dedicated to restoring the world’s oceans to health by establishing marine protected areas and tackling overfishing.

The challenge will take riders along the coast through two areas of outstanding natural beauty and three national parks. As part of the challenge, which starts in Beaulieu, Hampshire, and ends in Plymouth, Devon, riders will visit three BLUE projects along the route to see first-hand some of the charity’s work as well as a stop-off at Sunseeker on Poole Quay.

The projects include the Solent Oyster Restoration project, which is helping to restore oyster beds. This project has already seen some fantastic results, with 12 dedicated sites and 69,000 native oysters returning to the Solent.

Riders will also visit the charity’s flagship project Lyme Bay. BLUE has developed a win-win model that benefits the marine environment and has resulted in a 52% increase in species through a sustainable fishing programme.

Lastly, the challenge will take them to the Plymouth Marine Park, the first maritime national park in the UK, which aims to involve people in the stewardship of UK coastal waters and bring a wealth of benefits to deprived coastal communities.

“We at Sunseeker are delighted to be working with BLUE again after our successful Project Menorca programme,” says Andrea Frabetti, CEO at Sunseeker International. “We are pleased to sponsor such an exciting challenge close to our home in both Poole and Portland. The work BLUE does is fantastic, and we are looking forward to cheering on our team along the way as they conquer this challenge and raise much-needed funds to support the future of ocean conservation.”

Project Menorca was devised by BLUE and Sunseeker in 2018 to help create a difference in protecting the marine environment in Menorca. The project supported local fishers by introducing sustainable fishing methods, while working to remove plastics and ghost nets from the sea and distributing recyclable materials across the island. The project ran for just over two years and saw the implementation of a widespread education programme, a reduction in single-use plastics by local fishmongers, 143 beach cleans, and 13.5 tonnes of plastic cleared from the island.