WOODVALE ATLANTIC ROWING RACE
On the 4th January 2010, and after several delays due to bad weather, our colleague Adam Rackley and his rowing partner James Arnold, 'the Pytheas Club', cast off from the Canary Islands in their 24 foot ocean rowing boat 'The Spirit of Montanaro'. Their aim is to row unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean and to win the Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race. The Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race takes place every 2 years when 20 - 30 ocean rowing boats compete to be the first to make landfall in English Harbour, Antigua.
The current Atlantic rowing record of 33 days, 7 hours, 30 minutes was set in 2008 by the 12-man UK/Ireland crew of the vessel ‘La Mondiale’. The same boat, with a French crew, held the previous record set in 1992. The 'Spirit of Montanaro', with its two man crew, will travel East-to-West on a 2,900 nautical mile (3,350 mile) journey across the mid-Atlantic, following a route that takes advantage of favourable North-Easterly trade winds. Although generally good conditions make December and January favoured months for a mid-Atlantic crossing, storms are still common and weather will be key to the crew’s success.
If you would like to track Adam and Jimmy’s progress please click on the following link: http://www.atlanticrowingrace09.com/progress/
For more information please visit http://www.pytheasclub.com
August/September update from Adam & Jimmy
On the Saturday of the August bank holiday we set off from Gallions Point Marina, near London City Airport and headed east down the Thames with the intention of reaching Southend, our turn-around point, by nightfall. The aim of the outing was to practice rowing 2-hour shifts, to test some of the equipment and to experience rowing at night. We reached Southend at 8pm on track for a 24-hour round trip. With the wind behind us we had averaged about 3 knots down the estuary and made steady progress. Turning around at Southend into the wind and the tide it then took us 6-hours to row 200 meters. As the tide turned we began to make some progress, but with a strong headwind the going was slow and it soon became clear that we would not make it back to Gallions Point Marina that day as planned. Having provisioned for a 24-hour trip we stopped off on Sunday night at Thurrock Yacht Club to re-supply. On Monday the wind was gentler and, rowing together and with the tide on our side, we completed the row under the Dartford Bridge, past Tilbury Docks and back to the Marina in 4 hours, topping out at 6.9 knots on the home straight, rowing two-up.
After the Southend training row the Spirit of Montanaro was lifted out of the water and onto a hard standing for final work on her to be completed. This has included replacing the sliding seats and runners with a more robust roller-blade wheel-based system, changing one of the hatches, installing new ventilation and replacing the watermaker. We have also been putting together the kit and provisions we will need for our Atlantic crossing. Taking on board the lesson from our Southend trip we will be packing 90 days supply of food (1.1 million calories)! We plan for the crossing to take around 50.
Next month we look forwards to welcoming you to the Pytheas Club Open Evening at Balls Brothers in Hays Galleria on Friday 9th October (invitation below). This is an opportunity for you to see the boat and some of the kit we will be using. There will also be a raffle, some speeches and a chance to post a message on the Spirit of Montanaro.
The Pytheas Club will be raising money for Save the Children.
We're working flat-out to right the fundamental wrongs that affect children. Too many children are still dying because they haven't got enough food or because they can't get treatment for simple illnesses. We're changing this, partly by working directly with children, and partly by using our experience and influence to persuade governments and others who are responsible for children to do the right thing by them. We seek out the most marginalised children, wherever they are in the world, so that means we work in a really broad range of countries, from fragile states like Afghanistan, to developed countries like here in the UK. We work closely with our colleagues in the International Save the Children Alliance, both in our programmes with children and in our international campaigns and advocacy work. We have high ambitions for what's achievable for children - we aim to inspire dramatic change for children and to involve them in creating that change. We'd like you to get involved too.
