Antarctic explorers test kite power

The buggies travel at more than 50 mph

Two men have set off for the Antarctic on an expedition that will test a completely new vehicle for travelling across remote snowy landscapes.

The driver is less than two feet from the ground

It is a kite-powered ski-buggy, designed by Formula One racing engineer, Kieron Bradley, and capable of speeds in excess of 50 mph (80 kilometres per hour).

Irishman Jamie Young and Brian Cunningham of the UK - both originally from County Antrim in Northern Ireland - are planning to complete a 650-mile (1,000-km) journey in a week to 10 days.

With conventional sledges, it would take six times as long.

Five kites

The low-slung buggies weigh just 75 pounds (34 kilograms), and run on specially adapted skis.

ICE KITE FACTS

Speed: 50mph-plus

Weight: 75 pounds

Power: Range of five kites of different sizes

Specially adapted skis

Driver 20 inches from ground

The explorers will whizz along less than two feet (50 centimetres) from the ground.

They will have five different kites ranging in size from two to 10 square metres, to cope with varying wind conditions.

"We will have either too much or too little wind," said Mr Young.

He added: "But the main problem is visibility. You would be going at 80 km/h into a fairly white environment."

The two men will begin the trip across snowy wastes from the South Pole to Antarctica's Patriot Hills on 21 December, after a few days to sort their gear at Punta Arenas in Chile.

With 24-hour daylight, they will be able to keep going for 18 hours per day if conditions are good, covering a distance of 65 miles.

If one of the buggies is damaged, both men can travel on the remaining buggy.

Revolution

"The expedition is going to revolutionise the way people travel across Antarctica," said Anne Kershaw, president of Adventure Network International travel agency.

Both men are in their 50s

Brian Cunningham, aged 59, began his adventuring career in 1967 by yachting to Iceland and back.

Also a mountaineer and ice climber, last year he completed a challenging dog-sledding expedition on Canada's Baffin Island in temperatures below -40C.

In 1981, he was the first to run Britain's 90-mile West Highland Way in less than 24 hours. He is now a visiting professor at Manchester Business School.

Jamie Young, aged 50, has competed in a transatlantic single-handed yacht race, led a kayaking expedition to Guinea Bissau and paddled around Cape Horn.

In 1997, he was part of a team of Irishmen who re-enacted Sir Ernest Shackleton's famous 1915 trip in a seven-metre lifeboat from Elephant Island to South Georgia in the Southern Ocean.

They set off on Monday for Punta Arenas.