In days gone by, sailors who had rounded Cape Horn were entitled to put one foot up onto the table after dinner and those who had crossed the Arctic Circle were entitled to put both feet up! With the intention of achieving both privileges, yacht broker Chris Cecil Wright of Edmiston’s Monaco office has set up an expedition force he has called Two Feet on the Table. Raising money for charity, the team of nine will set out on April 11th from Ice Station Barneo in a quest to reach the Geographic North Pole by foot. On the way they will be contending with temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees centigrade, broken ice pressure ridges as high as houses and skiing whilst hauling their equipment in sledges. Conditions can become so treacherous that frequently the daily ice-drift can see a whole days northward gain wiped out while they sleep.



They will be raising money for The AquaLung Trust an organisation set up by Nick Baker, a yacht broker with Camper and Nicholsons International in London, who in June 2001 as a non smoker was somewhat surprised to learn he had lung cancer. After setting up the trust and raising over £500,000, Nick died on 17th May 2008, but his fund continues to fire the imagination of equally brave adventurers. The AquaLung Trust helps fund cancer research; provide health care to vulnerable people caught up in natural disasters, conflict, disease and health system collapse, and funds programmes promoting understanding and tolerance among young people of different backgrounds, faiths and cultures by means of challenging adventure programmes.



Cecil-Wright has been spent months training for towing the sledge by dragging tyres around and has even grown a beard to ward off the chill. He will be accompanied by team members Doug Stoup, Jim Ratcliffe, Jeannot Joly, Henri Thurier, Sam Ratcliffe, George Ratcliffe, Adam Carey and Fred Wadsworth. Donations can be made on the website: www.justgiving.com/Twofeetonthetable