Meet Ross and Hugo Turner, a.k.a. The Turner Twins. They’re professional adventurers who’ve rowed across the Atlantic (netting the duo two world records), scaled Mount Elbrus in Russia, and have traveled to four of the world’s Continental Poles of Inaccessibility — by bicycle and paramotor, no less — to list but a few of their accomplishments. Their latest adventure, though, is different. Set to begin in the next few weeks, their upcoming trip has been dubbed the Blue Pole Project: a 100% emission-free expedition.
The Turners will be sailing from the U.K. to the Canary Islands to the Azores archipelago and then the Atlantic Pole of Inaccessibility (POI), the point in the Atlantic Ocean that is furthest away from land in any direction, on a yacht powered by a prototype hydrogen fuel cell.
“The core of what we’re trying to do is discover something new.”
One of their aims with this trip is to draw attention to both hydrogen fuel technology and ocean conservation measures. Of the latter, this six-week journey will support efforts to gather data for research being conducted by Plymouth University’s International Marine Litter Research Unit. The unit’s research is focused on developing a clean-up strategy for marine plastic pollution.
“The core of what we’re trying to do is discover something new,” Ross recently told CNN of the twins’ emission-free expedition. “To be curious and use new technology and science to make our trips more sustainable. And if we can prove that they [the new technologies] are more sustainable in these extreme environments, then it should give a good example for everyone back in cities and normal life that the new sustainable technologies are very much user friendly every day.”
The brothers’ journey first began when Hugo broke his neck in a diving accident at age 17. Ross had broken his leg at an earlier point in time, and the once-hardy siblings had come to curtail their shared passion for and participation in sport. After Hugo was fortunate enough to fully recover from his diving injury, the duo began to undertake various adventures as a means of renewing their bond and rekindling their love of physical challenge and fitness. But it didn’t stop there.
While it may sound like they’ve since built a name for themselves due to their oversized sense of daring, there’s an altruistic underpinning to their endeavors. Not only do they consistently raise money for spinal research related charities (Wings for Life is one such organization they support), they furthermore declare their mission to be: “To help brands and people learn about our world through new technology and purposeful adventure.”
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