Four adventurers are taking?on a monster challenge – in a pedalo built by our students,?shaped like the Loch Ness monster.

Ed Foster, Nico Kirby, his sister Natasha Kirby and Sholto Morgan?are currently?on the open seas pedalling round the treacherous north coast of Scotland. The 500-mile journey?is?the first attempt to circumnavigate the northern tip of Scotland by pedalo and it encompasses some of the most dangerous waters in the UK.

The six-metre long pedalo?has been purpose-built by six Ship Science MEng students, over a period of seven months, to withstand the conditions.

The hull is a modified Hurricane 5.9m sailing dinghy and is fitted with five reclining bike seats, four for the pedalling crew and one for a guest. A specially developed drive train, utilising three differential drive trains, allows the crew of four to pedal at different speeds.

Two bespoke propellers were designed and manufactured and are mounted on a carbon fibre skeg, which the students designed with the help of Caterham?Group. Travelling at three knots (3.45miles/hour) requires approximately 400W?of combined pedal power or 100W per person.

The adventurers aim to raise ?250,000 for Cancer Research UK and Parkinson’s UK, so far Team Pedalo is already past ?60,000. For more information on their challenge click here: www.the500milepedalo.com