On June 18, 2022, professional adventurers Hugo and Ross Turner, better known as the Turner Twins, will set off on a six week, 100% emission-free sailing expedition to the Atlantic Pole of Inaccessibility, as they complete their Atlantic Plastic Survey. The Blue Pole Project powered by Quintet Earth, is sponsored by Brown Shipley and Quintet Earth – the world’s first multi-asset climate neutral investment fund – with Breitling as the official timing partner of the expedition. The brand is committed to continually improving their social and environmental impacts on the planet.

During the expedition, the twins will be working with the University of Plymouth’s International Marine Litter Research Unit, to carry out valuable research, which will be used to help build a long-term clean up strategy for marine plastic pollution.

A Pole of Inaccessibility (POI) is defined as being the geographic location furthest from a coast – often featureless, hostile, and nearly always remote. Hugo and Ross have already reached four of the Poles (Australian, North American, South America, and Iberia), with just five to go (Atlantic, Greenland, Madagascar, Eurasia and point Nemo). On completing this trip, they’ll be the first people ever to reach five POIs. They have their sights on reaching all nine.

The Turner Twins will also be partnering with Parley for the Oceans, an environmental organisation that focuses on addressing major ocean threats, to help promote ocean advocacy and support educational initiatives that can end the destruction of the oceans.

There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that mass, 269,000 tons float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometre litter the deep sea. Each year, the ocean becomes a magnet for plastic, with some 10 million tonnes finding its way into the ocean – a lego brick could survive in the ocean for as many as 1,300 years!

Climate changes are now inevitable and irreversible but if we can reach Net Zero by 2050, we can still avoid some of the most devastating effects of global warming – including slowing the heating and reducing the acidity the oceans. During the voyage the twins will also deploy ARGO buoys for scientific research and aim to collect retiring buoys to be reused, repaired or upcycled.

Professor Richard Thompson OBE, Head of the International Marine Litter Research Unit at the University of Plymouth, said: “While there is global consensus behind the need for action, we urgently need to stem the flow of plastics from land to sea. Understanding the quantities and types of litter already at sea is of key importance, and satellite technology presents a real opportunity to highlight where larger items exist. I hope that through this collaboration we can demonstrate the merits of this innovative technology, and go some way to helping better understand the hot spots where plastics have accumulated far away from land.”

100% Emission Free

From start to finish, the trip will be 100% emission free, using hydrogen provided by TCP Eco to power everything they need at each step of the journey, from the 40ft yacht’s electric engine to charging the electronics they need to communicate back to land and film the expedition. The UK summer tour will also be powered by a zero-emission (at point of use) hydrogen fuel-cell generator and battery inverter unit. Throughout the expedition and tour, the boys will also be wearing Paul&Shark clothing – inspired by the ocean and with a sustainability ethos that echoes that of the twins – as well as Breitling watches.

MDL Marinas, which have a number of marinas across the UK and Spain, are providing the storage and refit facilities required by the twins prior to the expedition. MDL is on a mission to be the UK’s most sustainable marina operator, driven by their #greenermarinas campaign.

Tour

Upon their return to the UK, the duo will embark on a tour of 10 major coastal cities in the UK with Parley, to take action and raise awareness of the health of the oceans and planet. From beach clean ups and Parley talks to a Waterbear pop-up cinema and a Talisker bar for refreshments, each stop will provide an exciting and enlightening experience for coastal communities, highlighting the importance of sustainability. The twins will continue to promote hydrogen fuel technology in the aim to normalise its use, with the UK tour also being powered by hydrogen fuel.

Project Partners

Brown Shipley and Quintet Earth fund are the leading sponsors of the Blue Pole Project. Quintet Earth is the first sustainable multi-asset fund, which combines equal exposure to green bonds and low-carbon equities, offsetting associated carbon emissions through reforestation activities.

The project will have a global platform by working with the production company and video streaming service WaterBear, the first global interactive streaming platform dedicated to the future of our planet, as well as Red Bull TV, who are making a documentary of their trip.

Other partners include Parley for the Oceans, Nikon, Dometic, Mactra marine, B&G, Bellmarine, Huel, Oakley, and Finsulate.