Superyacht Cyclists Set Off To Monaco To Help Save The World’s Oceans

Now that the London to Monaco charity bike ride just kicked off for the fourth year in a row to raise funds for the Blue Marine Foundation, a stir is being created in the lead up to the show because of the prominent members of the superyacht community who not only say they care about preserving the world’s oceans, but also are cycling to the Monaco Yacht Show from the UK (over 700-miles from Windsor Castle) to raise real money to do something about it!

The annual ride has already raised well over $1 million to help the Blue Marine Foundation preserve and protect the worlds oceans. And part of that long term success is due to the unflagging support of Winch Design (the London-based yacht, aviation, and architecture firm) that was the founding sponsor of the first ride in 2016, and has a sent a large team to support the ride every year since.

Photo: David Churchill, 2019

And several other superyacht builders, brokers, and designers including Amels, Oceanco, Y.co, and others followed Winch’s lead and sent teams that received a proper royal send-off from Princess Eugenie, James Blunt and ITV’s Tour of Britain presenter Matt Barbet at the start.

The first day saw the riders cover about 70 miles English countryside from Windsor down to Portsmouth on the south coast of England in support of the Blue Marine Foundations’ projects in the Maldives, Ascension Island, Patagonia, Cyprus, Namibia and Azerbaijan.

In addition to James Blunt and Princes Eugenie, Blue Marine Foundation supporters also include Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon and many other high profile people in the entertainment and superyacht industries.

But all agree that there is no more high-profile supporter in Monaco than His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco himself. As the reigning monarch of Monaco with assets valued at well over 1 billion dollars, Prince Albert could easily be occupied with other things. But, his commitment to preserving the oceans (and helping organizations like the Blue Marine Foundation make a difference in the health of our oceans) runs deep. He’s was a founding supporter of the ride last year and is even more excited for this year’s event.

Stay tuned for more from the ride and more behind-the-superyacht-scenes reporting on the largest new yachts that will debut at this year’s show.