This ground breaking expedition was large in ambition and in the amount of work required in its build and execution. Aside from the equipment testing and team selection discussed on other pages, there was ongoing role for SJH projects in the years of planning and for technical support during the expedition itself.
Although ultimately unsuccessful due to unmapped crevasse fields being exposed by the weight of the vehicle trains the expedition proved a lot of technologies that will be of benefit if anyone tries for the record in the future.
The existing London to Cape Town driving record had stood for 40 years. The ever changing political landscape in Africa, wars and shutting of borders had put off potential challengers for all this time.
Not put off was Mac Mackenney of Max Adventure. By planning a route that maximised their chances and having undertaken a series of build up trips and set UK records to hone the equipment and procedures, they were ready in the early Autumn of 2010. Without breaking any speed limits (and proving it with satellite tracking and a tachograph) the three man rotated between driving, sleeping and navigating to set a new record of 11 days and 14 hours.
Back in the UK the SJH Projects Operations Base kept a view on the political, weather and risk situations that could await them further down the road.
This proved critical when the visa entry requirements for crossing from Sudan to Ethiopia changed after the team had already set off from London. Handling this just from the vehicle, with limited communications, would have been very problematic and used up critical time.
SJH Projects also kept the expedition website up to date so that it was a useful resource to the media and sponsors. There was some vetting of blog content required to avoid unintentional comments that may not have been welcomed by the country they were in at the time and hoping to leave without any hiccups.
It is interesting to note that the route taken by the Max Adventure team would now not be viable due to the conflict in Syria.
