RACE DETAILS

The First Atlantic Crossings

In 1896, weary of digging for clams to supply the Fulton Fish Market in New York city, Norwegian immigrants George Harbo and Frank Samuelsen set out to become the first men to row across the Atlantic ocean. After a harrowing voyage of sixty days from the Battery to the Scilly Isles, they succeeded in setting a unique record that stayed unbroken for more than a century.

Following in the wake of Harbo and Samuelson, in 1966 Sir Chay Blyth and John Ridgeway rowed across the North Atlantic from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Ireland in a twenty foot dory named the “English Rose III”. Their 92 day voyage was a challenge, a test of strength and endurance and a gauntlet to be taken up by others

Making Rowing History

Three decades later, Sir Chay Blyth announced his intention to organise the first ever ocean rowing race, an event that changed the history of ocean rowing. Teams came from around the World and on 12 th October, 1997, 30 double-handed teams set out from Los Gigantes, Tenerife in identical 24ft marine plywood rowing latests to compete, on equal terms over a 3000 mile voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to Barbardos. The race was a huge success and was one by New Zealanders, Rob Hamill and Phil Stubbs in 41 days beating the Habro/Samuelson record by 19 days.

The World’s Toughest Rowing Race

Deemed The ‘World’s Toughest Rowing Race’, the Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race 2005 will follow in the footsteps of the previous four rowing races in 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2004 with records waiting to be broken. In November 2005, Sally Kettle, Ali Boreham, Diane Park and Claire Mills, four ambitious and well-prepared women, will set off with the Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race fleet, departing from La Gomera in the Canary Islands and finishing 3,000 miles away in Antigua. This passage will provide the fleet with the best possible conditions, taking advantage of the predominantly south westerly flowing current from the Canaries to South America as well as exploiting the surface current created by the favourable prevailing wind. The race window will also avoid the hurricane season in the Caribbean.

How the Rowgirls plan to make the crossing

The Latest will become home for the Rowgirls and will be fully equipped with a water making machine, solar panels to power the GPS system, on board computer and a webcam. All the equipment needed to row The Latest – oars, custom made seats etc. They will also be taking food required for the entire journey and at 6000 calories a day each that is a lot of chocolate, three times as much as we would normally eat. One question always pops up is: “How do you go to the loo?” It has been recommended that they use a bed pan on a rope – ‘bucket and chuck it’!

One piece of advice is that as the weather is hot and sunny, clothing becomes damp and salt-encrusted, causing very unpleasant chaffing, so many chose to row naked. A daily schedule of rowing 2 hours on and 2 hours off has been recommended, alternating sleep and rowing. This means that The Latest will always make progress and someone will always be on the look out for tankers. Aside from rowing they will be confirming course, cooking up sumptuous meals (of dried carbohydrates and boil-in-the bag pudding) and enjoying the sunsets. Hopefully on-board tensions will be avoided with the odd game, perhaps hide and seek or ‘I spy’!!