Whiteley rowing enthusiast Charles Brisley will be putting his arms to the test over 32km for a lifeboat charity – but not on the water.
Charles Brisley (PHOTO: Dan Akerman)
The 38-year-old regular gym user at LBhealthcare in Whiteley will be rowing non-stop on May 25 at the fitness centre to raise money for the Hamble Lifeboat Station Appeal.
Hamble Lifeboat plans to raise £500,000 to build a new station to replace their outdated and inadequate boathouse.
Mr Brisley, who sails in his spare time, has seen the lifeboat in action in the Solent, so decided to help the group that has attended thousands of emergencies across the south since 1968.
“A few years ago my friend’s 38 foot boat lost its mast and the Hamble Lifeboat helped them,” said Mr Brisley, who works as a transport planner for Mott McDonald in Eastleigh.
“It snapped in half, which is pretty serious. It could’ve been dangerous.
“They’ve got a boat house that’s pretty tired. They’ve got two boats on rotation, so while one’s out attending to incidents, the other is back in the boat house. They don’t just go to incidents near here, they go all along the south coast.
“I crew on a yacht that races out on the Hamble and I see the lifeboat out a lot.
“Rowing is good overall fitness and when I sail generally I’m the mast man, which is fairly heavy work hoisting sails, so needs quite fast, quick movements and a lot of upper body strength.
“It’s quite a nice thing to do. It’s hard work but it’s a good way of keeping fit.’’
He aims to complete the row on the Concept 2 rowing machine in two and a half hours and raise around £750.
To sponsor him visit www.justgiving.com/charles-brisley.