NEWS UPDATE - NO.8

Sean Curnow: Welcome to the eighth update for the UAE Charity Challenge Team.

CHARITY

The Dubai Centre for Special Needs reopened its doors in September and the students are back. We have recently approached the DCSN to get a quotation on the Toyota Coaster bus that we are looking to fund as part of our charitable work for this year.

Our charitable project in Uganda is continuing to take shape. My trip to Uganda scheduled of September/October as part of my work commitments with one of our Platinum Sponsors (Heritage Oil & Gas) has been delayed. However, we have been in touch with representatives of the World Health Organisation and are still waiting to hear back from the Ugandan Ministry of Health representative for the Malaria Control Programme.

More to come on both of these subjects in the November update!


TRAINING

The month of September has seen temperature start to drop to something bearable and in the later part of the month we have even been able to get out for some afternoon rides.

The UAE CC team continue to train out in the desert every weekend.

Gecko motorcycles have continued to support the UAE CC by inviting the UAE CC team along to join in training runs using the Garmin GPS units that reflect the various race conditions we could see on a day to day basis.

Thanks again to Gecko for their continued support!


SPONSORSHIP

It has been a huge month for the UAE CC in terms of securing further sponsorship. In the month of September we managed to secure two Gold and four Silver Sponsors. In addition to this one of our Silver Sponsors (Reed Hycalog) upgraded their sponsorship level to Gold through their sister company NOV Brandt.

Schlumberger and the IADC have joined the UAE CC as a Gold sponsors.

Schlumberger is a global leader in Oil and Gas Services. We wear our badge of "Most Global Company on Earth" with pride, as we employ over 80,000 people from 140 nationalities to cover our operations in nearly 100 countries. Schlumberger spends substantially more than any other comparable company on R&D, which allows us to continually provide our customers with the latest technology and solutions. We supply services in the following Segments: Reservoir Evaluation (Wireline Logging), Drilling and Measurements (LWD/MWD/DD), Well Services (Cementing, Pumping, Stimulation, Coiled Tubing), Well Testing (incl Surface, Downhole, Subsea, Data Acquisition, Perforating and Slickline), IPM (Project Management), SIS (Information Solutions). Western Geco provides seismic acquisition and interpretation, and other groups such as Carbon Services and Water Services offer support and expertise in various related fields. Our industry-best internal support systems, like QHSE and Logistics, etc allow us to provide these services to our customers in the safest and most expedient way possible.
Since 1940, the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) has exclusively represented the worldwide oil and gas drilling industry. IADC strives to secure responsible standards, practices, legislation and regulations that provide for safe, efficient and environmentally sound drilling operations worldwide.

The IADC's resources offer diverse benefits to its membership of drilling contractors, producers and associates. Membership is open to any company involved in oil and gas exploration and production, well servicing, oil field manufacturing and other rig site services. Through conferences, training seminars and a comprehensive network of technical publications, IADC continually fosters education and communications within the upstream petroleum industry. IADC has a global reach operating wherever its members operate...in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

IADC’s Southern Arabian Peninsula Chapter includes member companies operating in the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Yemen. The Chapter provides both a technical forum for addressing regional challenges and a social network for professionals in the drilling and related industries. The Chapter also supports worthwhile charitable organizations and activities.

Life Healthcare Group, International Tubular Services Middle East, NOV Rig Solutions and Halliburton Sperry Sun have joined the UAE CC as Silver sponsors.

The LIFE Healthcare Group is a retail chain of: Pharmacies, Nutrition Centers and Cosmetic Outlets that was established in 1989. Its 19 years foray into the world of healthcare has transformed it into a leading retailer of medicine and medical equipment in the UAE. And today, it is a household name for emergency and daily medical need. LIFE Healthcare Group with its professional approach has reached many impeccable standards and service attitude fetched exponential growth and is ranked No.1 in sales. To provide perfect Health Protection, Health Promotion, and Clinical Quality Service, each store has unique and different services that augment the needs of the customers of a particular area.

International Tubular Services was founded in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1986 and developed into a fast-growing provider of drilling equipment and services to the oil and gas industry. ITS have a reputation for commitment, quality and delivery of cost-effective solutions. ITS has a wide global footprint and exposure to the major hydrocarbon basins. ITS operates from over 20 facilities strategically located worldwide, active in more than 50 countries with a highly-skilled workforce comprising over 900 employees. ITS provides a wide range of oilfield equipment crucial to the success of various stages of drilling operations.
ITS works closely with oil and gas exploration companies, drilling contractors and oilfield service firms and are now widely recognized as a first choice for services in Rental and Sales, Fishing, Casing / Tubular Running and Manufacturing & Repair. ITS have a complete service to cater for all your drilling operations and our people are always thinking of new ways to improve our services – it’s our competitive advantage

National Oilwell Varco is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and sale of equipment and components used in oil and gas drilling and production, the provision of oilfield inspection and other services, and supply chain integration services to the upstream oil and gas industry.

Halliburton Sperry Drilling Services is a global supplier of reliable, innovative, and highly technical drilling and formation evaluation services to the oil and gas drilling industry. Throughout its 75 year history, Sperry has sustained a spirit of innovation, determination, curiosity, and integrity.

Sperry Drilling Services' range of products & services include Directional Drilling & Surveying, Measurement-While-Drilling/Logging-While-Drilling Services, Multilateral Systems, Surface Data Logging (SDL) and Underbalanced Applications

We welcome Schlumberger, IADC, Duty Free, Life Healthcare Group, International Tubular Services Middle East, NOV Rig Solutions and Halliburton Sperry Sun to the UAE CC team and thank them for their charitable support.

We currently have just less than 460,000 AED in committed sponsorship from our corporate and individual sponsors. We are now closing our corporate sponsorship for 2008 to allow us to get team shirts and banners printed with the logos of all our various sponsors. However, our individual sponsorship will stay open right to the end of the race.

We look to have fallen just short of our target of 500,000 AED. However, I know that the UAE CC team takes great pride in the level of sponsorship we have been able to muster in our inaugural year.

As always, we would like to thank our corporate sponsors for their support and all those people who have contributed personal donations to the UAE CC. (see your names listed in the Sponsors page)


TECHNICAL

Gecko Motorcycles continues to carry out the necessary modifications in stage to get the bikes ready for the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge.

With only 3 weeks remain until D-day, and the bikes are now fully kitted out looking like proper rally machines. One of the major jobs was to finish all of the electrical wiring, connecting the navigation and lighting equipment to the wiring harness. Brake lights, fog lights, GPS connector, Sentinel, and road book all had to be hooked correctly. Any mistake in this wiring, especially concerning the navigation equipment could end up in a very interesting race indeed.

As we had mentioned in our previous update the navigation equipment had to be setup in the last few weeks in order to avoid and expensive damage during training. The possibilities of this became quite obvious when we picked up the bikes fully modified with the front faring with all its brackets and supports protruding up a good 15 inches above the handlebars directly in front of the riders face. The front faring is quite simply a plastic extension inserted above the headlamp which serves as a shield for the fragile equipment located directly behind it. Its primary role will be to deflect any rocks, wind, sand etc which could cause any damage. However, in the very likely event of a front end crash where the bike nosedives in soft sand the rider could quite possibly cause quite significant damage to himself and the entire navigational setup.

The GPS (Global Positioning system) will serve as a directional device which literally points us in the direction of the next waypoint. However, riders must remember that the GPS will point them in a straight line and does not take into account all the possible hazards between point A and point B. This is where the Road Book comes into play. Put simply, this gadget is no more than a roll of paper handed out the night before by race organizers which is fixed onto the handlebars and contains written instructions and warnings about the track ahead. The riders must manually unwind and frequently adjust it according to the GPS coordinates throughout the ride. The Sentinel is another ingenious bit of kit. Its primary and only concern is for rider safety. One of the biggest dangers with this race is vehicle collisions, especially between the lighter – more exposed motorbikes and the faster/heavier cars and trucks. As the bikers always start the day ahead of everyone there is always a risk that the cars and trucks will catch up, passing the riders at superior speeds and sometimes resulting in what could be a fatal collision. The Sentinel is a system by which the passing vehicle sounds an alarm in the vehicle ahead, warning him of the upcoming overtaking manoeuvre. Even though this early warning system is welcomed by all riders, it is not full proof. Sometimes the passing vehicle is travelling at such high speeds that by the rime the rider has heard the alarm the vehicle has already passed them.

The heavy duty bash plates do exactly as their name suggests. With all the additional weight on these bikes, combined with hundreds of kilometres of punishing terrain, the bikes will at some point be subjected to big knocks under the chassis where the fragile engine casing and cooling systems are located. Simply put, these bash plates are made of thick steel positioned under the chassis protecting all the vital machinery from potential hits from rocks, tree’s and the like.

Emergency water tanks are compulsory for all bike riders and are located in two positions. The first is placed in front of the engine block, whereas the second is located under the rear mudguard. Each of these holds 1 to 2 litres of water and is intended for the rider to eventually drink or to use for any other purpose as a last resort in the event of an emergency in the desert.

Finally, each of our bikes has had a complete top end rebuild to the engine. Pistons, cam shafts, seals…etc has all been replaced a few weeks ahead of the final race. We know that these bikes are reliable, but by doing this we are greatly limiting our chances of a mechanical failure. Each of our bikes have been pushed hard during summer months and with more than 70hrs logged per bike some wear and tear is unavoidable.

So the bikes are now complete!!!

VOLUNTEER WORK

Matt Wilson (Wilson Griffin Design) continues to carry out his volunteer work keeping the website up to date and making improvements. Changes for the Month of September are as follows -

· The 8th News Update has been added to the ‘NEWS’ page
· The ‘Sponsors’ Page will be updated with all our latest sponsors.