Bad weather forces Prescott and Sculthorpe in to 'plan B'

Rugby League’s charity fundraising duo Steve Prescott MBE and Paul Sculthorpe have made it to Calais on day three of their Paris to London Challenge but have had to move to a contingency plan due to adverse weather conditions. The next leg of their journey was supposed to be a unique kayak crossing of the English Channel but with gale force winds and seven metre waves they have had to progress to their ‘plan B’. 
 
“The weather has conspired against us as at the moment there is a Gale Force 8 Wind out in the Channel. This has affected the ferries, as we were delayed by two hours in crossing over to England. If it affects the large ferries you can imagine what it would do to a small kayak!” said Steve.
 
The Rugby League legends will now alter the original order of their route from the Paris Marathon last Sunday to the Virgin London Marathon this coming Sunday. The next step of the challenge will be to cycle from Dover to London, returning to Dover on Friday to attempt the Channel crossing.
 
The Steve Prescott Foundation secretary Martin Blondel explained, “We always knew that the weather could play its part so a number of contingencies were put in place with the support of the relative authorities, the coast guard and our sea captain. Having looked at the most up-to-date weather forecast everyone is confident that we’ll be able to attempt the crossing on Friday.”
 
The fundraising challenge began on Sunday with the Paris Marathon and both Steve and Paul managed an excellent time of less than 4.5 hours to complete the 26 mile run. On Monday they began their 109 mile bike ride to Abbeville and Tuesday, a further 77 miles to Calais.
 
Steve and Paul are raising funds for The Steve Prescott Foundation, whose beneficiary charities are Try Assist, which is the rugby league benevolent fund, and The Christie in Manchester, where Steve receives treatment for his terminal cancer.
 
To keep up to date with pictures and videos from the challenge plus a live GPS tracker monitoring their progress please visit www.engagemutual.com/
 
To donate visit www.justgiving.com/steve-scully