Rhino Charge

Prize-giving for distance-related awards, auction of the Chairman’s Discretion Entry, preview of the Spirit of the Charge 2015

The Prize-giving ceremony for distance-related awards will take place at the Purdy Arms (61, Marula Lane, Karen) on 4th July 2015 with free entry and a cash bar for refreshments.

The programme is as follows:

  • 5:00pm – Prize-giving for distance related awards;
  • 5:45pm – Auction of the RC 2016 Chairman’s Discretion Entry;
  • 7:00pm – Preview of the film, “Spirit of the Charge 2015”.

The Auction of the Chairman’s Discretion Entry will be a unique opportunity to get an entry to the Rhino Charge 2016 for those who missed out on their entry on 1st July 2015 when all available entries were taken by 7:15am.

The rules of the Auction are as follows:

  • Minimum reserve & starting pledge is KES 1million;
  • Pledge increases on the reserve are in increments of KES 50,000;
  • No participation in the Auction by telephone will be allowed;
  • Winning pledge will have to (i) complete the 2016 entry form and the pledge form to suit pledge amount, (ii) pay the KES 2,000 entry fee, and (iii) pay the KES 38,000 advance sponsorship;
  • All other Rhino Charge rules apply.

Rhino Charge 2015 Results Released

Finally the Rhino Charge 2015 distance-related results are out. As announced at Prize giving on 1st June 2015, further reconciliation and analysis of the GPS data was required this year to provide the distance-related results. The processing of the GPS data has now been successfully concluded and the results are ready.

The event was won by Mark Glen (Team 48) in Car 48 with a distance of 32.051 km. Second was Sean Avery (Team Bundufundi) in Car 38 with a distance of 32.289 km. The third position went to Manee Choda (Team Ole Choda) in Car 06 with a distance of 32.423 km.

The Rhino Charge 2015 raised KES 108,617,802, in keeping with the above KES 100 million mark broken for the second time in the 27-year history of the Rhino Charge. This beats last year’s figure of KES 102 and the previous year’s figure of KES 90 million.

The top three fundraisers for this year were Car 5 – Alan McKittrick (KES 7,595,979), Car 23 – Peter Kinyua (KES 5,620,000), and Car 35 – Mark Tilbury (KES 4,546,925). Funds raised by each team is provided here.

Winner of the most prestigious Victor Ludorum – highest fundraiser and best placed by formula – was won by Alan McKittrick in Car 5. Alan McKittrick’s team remains the highest fundraiser for 13 years in a row. Last year, Car 5 raised KES 7,236,768 slightly below this year’s figure. Since Car 5 entered the Charge in 1989, the team has raised a staggering amount of KES 116,073,282.

The exciting Rhino Charge event lived up to expectation for the entrants who were flagged off at 7:30 am from the spread of guard posts scattered through the rugged rock strewn hills and gulleys of Kalepo (Namunyak Conservancy).

In a tough contest at the Gauntlet, James Boorman (Team 53) in Car 53 took the first position with a distance of 2.90 km. Second position was a tie between Gray Cullen (The Smiling Shenzies) in Car 22 and Jaspal Matharu (Fat Rhinos) in Car 24 both with a distance of 2.92 km.

The modified vehicles category was won by by Mark Glen in Car 48. Peter Castle (Team The Dik-Diks) in Car 39 won the unmodified category coming 15th overall with a distance of 38.543 km.

Best placed overseas entrant was Peter Castle in Car 39 placed 15th overall in the event. Petra Somen (Team Bushbabes) in Car 19 was awarded the Coupe Des Dames award.

The Tiger Line (Vineyard – Hardi) was won by Brandon Barbour (Team Car 57) in Car 57 covering a distance of 1.119 km. Tiger Line (Brookhouse – Greensteds) was won by Tony Hughes (Team Hoozie) in Car 33 covering a distance of 5.629 km.

WE THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT & SEE YOU IN 2016

2015 Rhino Charge Fundraising

The 2015 ‪‎Rhino Charge‬ raised around 4.2 million for the host community and broke its previous record by raising 108 million for Rhino Ark Charitable Trust projects.

Results

  • Fundraising awards
    • Rhino Charge – Car 5 won the top fundraiser award with 7,595,979 KES raised
    • Rhino Charge – Car 23 Mpesa Team won the second highest fundraiser award with 5,620,000 KES raised
    • Rhino Charge – Car 35 The Hog Charge won the third highest fundraiser award with 4,546,925 KES raised
  • Peter Castle with Rhino Charge – Car 39 receives the international team award
  • Daniel mcMillan who is 19 gets awarded with Kamran Fazal Memorial Trophy for youngest Rhino Charger he was with Car 12
  • Car 32 wins Rhino Charge “properly shafted award” after their car burnt out fully
  • Rhino Charge Car 26 wins ‘Spirit of the Charge’ award – incredible story will follow soon, but they competed in a regular unmodified Land Rover

Full results for the Rhino Charge need further consolidation and will be released as soon as possible.

Thank you to everyone that has been involved this year. Every competitor, spectator, official & supporter has helped to raise this money for conservation.

Rhino Charge 2015

Rhino Charge 2015

The Samburu host community of this year’s Rhino Charge are to benefit immensely for providing access to their conservancy as it has become a standing practice wherever the motorsport fundraising event is held.

The venue for the 27th edition of the Rhino Charge is located in Kalepo (Namunyak Conservancy), a community owned and managed conservancy located in the untamed wilderness of Samburu in Northern Kenya. The proceeds from the vehicle entry fee (also known as Landowners Access Fee) paid by all vehicles entering the Venue will go towards supporting community projects in the conservancy. These projects may include building of school infrastructure and water tanks, enhancing the management of the conservancy and strengthening security in the area. During last year’s event, KES 2.9 million was given to the host community in Kalama Conservancy, Samburu.

Five times in the 27 years of Rhino Charge’s history, the event has taken place in a Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) conservancy. NRT was established to develop resilient community conservancies, which transform people’s lives, secure peace and conserve natural resources. Relationship between Northern Kenya conservancies and the Rhino Charge goes back to 1991, when the event was first held in Ngare Ndare. Similar events have since been held in Lekurruki Conservancy (2001), Namunyak Conservancy (2008), Kalama Conservancy (2014) and Kalepo in Namunyak Conservancy (2015).

In addition to the direct cash contribution derived from the Landowners Access Fee, the Rhino Charge helps profile the tourism and conservation potentials of the host conservancy.

Namunyak is one of NRT’s largest conservancies, covering 974,000 acres. With community members employed as rangers, community-owned lodges working in partnership with independent safari camp operators, and a good governance system in place – Namunyak stands as a fantastic example of community conservation in Northern Kenya. Namunyak means “blessed“ in Samburu language. It is home to the Mathews Forest Range, and serves as a critical wildlife corridor between the five community conservancies on its borders. At certain times of year, it hosts huge populations of elephant, as they move seasonally between the Mathews Forest and the Mt. Kenya and Ngare Ndare Forests.

Namunyak began as two group ranches, and over 15 years, driven by the need to protect the Mathews range, has expanded to six, including the Ngiai West Group Ranch and the community land area of Ndonyo Wasin managed by Kalepo. It was one of the first community conservancies in Northern Kenya to be established, along with Il Ngwesi.

Funds raised by the competitors are used for Rhino Ark conservation work in Kenya’s mountain forested sources of water, known as ‘water towers’. This includes fencing Mt. Kenya, maintaining the 400 km Aberdare Electric Fence and the recently completed Mau Eburu Electric Fence, as well as supporting the livelihood of fence-adjacent communities and engaging them in conservation. During the 2014 edition of the Rhino Charge, KES 102 million were raised by the competing teams.

Unique this year is the ‘Capacity on Wheels’ (a mobile mast) set up by Safaricom to provide competitors and spectators with access to the mobile network. In addition, Liquid Telecom has installed 7 satellite-based communication units to provide internet access to key locations on the Venue. Since the 2013 Rhino Charge, the mobile retail chain supplier ‘Nakumatt on Wheels’ has been providing over 300 different items including frozen and chilled products. Other providers include Highlands Mineral Water, Heineken, and The Iceman.

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IT IS ‘READY STEADY GO’ FOR THE 2015 RHINO CHARGE

IT IS ‘READY STEADY GO’ FOR THE 2015 RHINO CHARGE

All systems are go for the start of the annual Rhino Charge in Northern Kenya, where 64 participants, only one had to pull out at the last moment, will be required to visit 13 control point scattered over approximately 100 square kilometres of rough terrain within the space of 10 hours. Supplied with a 1:50,000 scale map of the venue and the GPS coordinates of the 13 control points, each competing team will decide their own route to follow. The winner will be the competitor who finishes at the control point where he/she started having visited all the other control points in the shortest distance (GPS measured).

Winners’s details will be announced here just as soon as the race stewards have released the final audited results. The same will apply to the funds raise this year, for the host community and for the Rhino Ark’s conservation projects.

As a motorsport event supporting conservation, the organizers are deeply committed to minimizing any environmental impact that could arise from the competition. For instance, the duration of the competition is limited to 10 hours; and only 65 competition cars may participate in the event. In addition, to avoid cumulative impact from consecutive events, the Rhino Charge is organized each year in a different location.

To determine and help mitigate any potential negative impact, Rhino Ark commissioned in 2008 an independent environmental and social impact audit of representative samples of venues where the Rhino Charge event had been held. The venues assessed were Tassia Ranch (Laikipia), Swuari Lagha (Samburu), Ol Kinyei Group Ranch (Narok), and Lorongoswa Group Ranch (Kajiado).

The audit found that there was minimal impact on the sites arising from Rhino Charge activities. Recommendations arising from the audit were incorporated into subsequent Charge venues and course designs
One of the main environmental challenges of organizing such a large event with close to 3,000 officials, participants and spectators in the most remote wilderness areas of Kenya is the management of waste. In keeping with Rhino Ark’s conservation mission, the Rhino Charge Committee is dedicated to leaving each venue as they found it. To this end, stringent rules have been set by the Committee to ensure that no refuse is left anywhere in the entire Rhino Charge venue. This includes a system of fines that is strictly implemented to address refuse generated by competitors and spectators. In addition, with the support of key sponsors, refuse is collected across the venue, including the Spectator Camp and the Gauntlet.

To promote refuse recycling, a Waste Sorting Station has been set up at the venue since 2013. Glass, cans, tins, and plastic bottles, among others, are separated and brought back to Nairobi for recycling. In the 2014 event, over 60 cubic metres of refuse was properly sorted and removed from the venue for recycling.

Kindly note that general information about the Rhino Charge, as well as updates about the event, including photographs, will be made available online on the new Rhino Charge website www.rhinocharge.co.ke

Updates can be found on the news page: https://rhinocharge.co.ke/press
Live updates on the event will be available at https://rhinocharge.co.ke/results/?tab=LiveUpdates

Please follow us on the digital channels of the Rhino Charge and Rhino Ark:

Rhino Charge Rhino Ark
Facebook www.facebook.com/RhinoChargeKenya www.facebook.com/RhinoArk
Twitter @rhino_charge @RhinoArk
Instagram Rhino.Charge Rhino.Ark
Hashtag #RhinoCharge #RhinoArk
Youtube youtube.com/rhinocharge4x4
Website www.rhinocharge.co.ke www.rhinoark.org

You can also follow us on the new Rhino Charge free mobile application “Rhino Charge” developed by Litchman Consultants which can be downloaded from the Apple Store and Google Play. For background information on the Rhino Charge, you can download the following documents:

Why we ‪‎Rhino Charge‬!

Some wonder why, and some wonder why not defend what we know is vital to our existence? This is why we ‪#‎RhinoCharge‬!

A 400 km long electric fence around the place we swore to protect stands a symbol of success and together with YOU and the Rhino Ark Charitable Trust we will protect not only the Aberdares but also Mount Kenya and Mount Eburu!