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Ladies and Gentlemen please place your bets
09:43 a.m. EDT Oct 15, 2003
There is just over a week to go before the start (Sun Oct 19) of the Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race, which will see 16 double handed teams from South Africa, New Zealand, France, the UK and the Caribbean (for the first time) set out from La Gomera in the Canary Islands for a 2,900 mile race to Barbados.
"Human power, endeavor and perseverance will be their only form of propulsion and a 24 ft boat, made out of marine plywood, will be their home and protection against the mass expanse of water, resident to sharks, whales and other creatures of the deep!" says the organizers. This is the third edition of this event, in 1996 it was also the race which Jim Shekhdar rowed in before going on to become the first ever person to row the Pacific from South-America to Australia! (Jim is currently getting ready for a solo and unsupported double ocean row with departure set for Thursday this week).
The record of 41 days was set by Rob Hamill and the late Phil Stubbs in 1997. The teams will, on average, row 18 hours a day. Any outside assistance (including giving the rowers even the basics of water) will disqualify the teams. Crews will need to take in up to 7,000 calories a day in order to cope with the intense physically (and indeed mentally) grueling challenges of the racing. Tins of food would weigh the boats down so freeze dried food, featuring such delights as chicken curry and Spotted Dick, will constitute their staple diets.
The organizers close their presentation: “The spirit of adventure lives within all the crews of this years Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race. From the natural beauty of the Atlantic Ocean to the searing heat on a windless deck – this has got to be one of the world’s greatest challenges. After two years of preparation and financial commitment – the stage is truly set.”
Well, and set it is. Especially as three of the teams will use ExplorersWeb's extreme expedition comm set up Contact 2.0! Our teams are Atlantic Whollf, Team rowing home (yes the Caribbean pioneers!) and Bluebellwood. If all goes well, for the first time, we'll be able to follow the rowers day by day with live dispatches and pics and get a true feeling of what it's actually like to row an Atlantic ocean. So Ladies and Gentlemen, place your bets, the tables close Sunday!
Contact 2.0 image of team Bluebellwood's pre-race preparations on La Gomera courtesy of the team
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