Hard graft in the Atlantic for Oyster Shack Ocean Challenger
( Last Updated: 10-01-2008 )
After 14 days and approximately 20 hours at sea Oyster Shack Ocean Challenger completed the first 1,000 nautical miles (nm) at sea during the morning of Monday 7th January and remains on course to complete the 2,552 nm journey to Antigua inside the record time of 35 days 8 hours and 30 minutes.
The crew, Simon Chalk, 34, from Devon; Ian Couch, 37, from Suffolk; Mike Martin, 23, from Surrey; George Oliver, 27, from Bristol and Ben Thackwray, 27, from Leeds, originally known as the Atlantic Six, have had a hard week. They have been skirting the edge of a weather system and the unfavourable winds have prevented them from heading south as quickly as they had hoped. But they need to head south anyway so are pushing on as fast as they can. They were also delayed when the brackets on their rudder sheared. This took six hours to repair but did give Ben, Ian and Mike the opportunity to take a dip and cool off while they placed the rudder back on its pintles and cleaned the boat's bottom. Since then the crew has seen a pod of small dolphins as well as their first shark so they will be more wary when they next need to remove the soft barnacles and other sea life from the boat's bottom.
Bottoms are a problem for ocean rowers and not just the boat; the heavier oarsmen also suffer. On Oyster Shack it is George who falls into this category. A week ago the sores and blisters on his buttocks were so bad the crew sought medical advice which was to lay off the oars for 48 hours. Now back in harness after a brief respite he places a piece of plastic over the sheepskin seat cover which helps keep any open sores clean.
During the week Oyster Shack Ocean Challenger has slowly been catching and overtaking the tail-enders in the Atlantic Rowing Race 2007 that started from La Gomera on 2nd December. They have also been keeping an eye on the progress of the other two boats attempting to break the trans-Atlantic rowing record. The 14 man British/Irish crew in La Mondiale have made excellent progress and may well break the current record. Little has been heard of the 4man American crew in Orca as they have had communication problems but they too are thought to be going well.
Morale on Oyster Shack Ocean Challenger remains high despite this difficult week. The weather is expected to turn in their favour in the next couple of days. They are still ahead of La Mondiale's position at the 14 day point and remain confident that they will beat the current record.
Sally Cornwell, Managing Director of A Taste of Europe.co.uk, one of Oyster Shack's sponsors said, "I'm really impressed with the progress the Oyster Shack Ocean Challenger has been making and their determination in continuing the challenge despite the injury of one of their crew and their subsequent restart. A Taste of Europe is proud to be sponsoring them in this challenge and has been avidly monitoring their progress throughout. I am confident that the crew will arrive in Antigua within 35 days (the current rowing record) and am hoping for good weather conditions to help them to achieve this."
Visit www.atlanticsix.com to follow the crew's progress, send a message of support or make a donation to Wateraid
Ends 7th January 2008
Notes for Editors:
1. Oyster Shack Ocean Challenger was designed and built by Woodvale Challenge in Ashburton, Devon. She is 29ft 6ins long and 6ft wide. Made of carbon fibre and Kevlar she is strong, light and has excellent self-righting ability. The crew carry all their supplies and provisions on board as the record attempt must be made without outside assistance.
2. The crew originally set off on 5th December as the Atlantic Six, but an injury to a member of the crew in the first 24 hours forced them to abort the attempt.
3. The Oyster Shack crew are rowing to raise funds for Wateraid (www.wateraid.org.uk), which provides safe water, effective sanitation and hygiene education to the world's poorest people.
4. In addition to Oyster Shack Restaurants and Woodvale Challenge, Oyster Shack Ocean Challenger is sponsored by South West regional Development Agency (www.southwestdra.org.uk) and Leadbitter Construction, a leading construction company in the South West (www.leadbitter.co.uk). Several other organisations and individuals have sponsored the project in cash or in kind.
5. To find out more information about La Mondiale and Orca's attempt please visit the following websites - www.oceanrowevents.com / www.atlanticorca.com
6. Also out on the water are 20 other ocean rowing boats consisting of solo's, pairs and fours competing in this year's Atlantic Rowing Race. The race, which started on 2nd December 2007 from La Gomera, Canary Islands will finish in English Harbour, Antigua in early 2008. Please visit www.atlanticrowingrace2007.co.uk for more information and to track the rowing boats across the Atlantic Ocean.
Press: For further information or to obtain photographs please call either Richard Oliver, Base Support for the Atlantic Six on: Tel: 01380 812368 Mob: 07974 816947 E-mail: rao@lineone.net or Amanda Claridge, Woodvale Challenge on: Tel: 01364 644432 Mob: 07864 288609 E-mail: Amanda@woodvale-challenge.com