Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday
ROWERS attempting to smash the world record for an Atlantic crossing had to be rescued 500 miles from Barbados after capsizing.
Perthshire Adventurer Mark Beaumont was among the crew plucked to safety on Monday.
The crew of five Britons and an Irishman had been trying to row from Morocco to Barbados in under 30 days, and were 27 days into their journey when the 36ft (11m) vessel overturned.
A spokesman for the effort added the six were expected to be taken to Gibraltar, where they are due to arrive next week.
In recent days the crew had struggled against the elements, although came within one mile of their desired pace.
But by Saturday, about three days after the Atlantic Odyssey team crossed the imaginary 1000-mile line to Barbados, the determined rowers were losing 10 to 15 knots a day.
Over recent days the six – who set off from Tarfaya in Morocco for Port St Charles, Barbados on January 2 on a bid to cover an epic 3000 miles, from east to west in the quickest-ever time – have been through the wringer.
In his latest update, Beaumont (29) explained that issues of increasing temperatures and elusive trade winds had been exacerbated by heavy seas, poor swell and scant wind.
“That has meant losing 10 to 15 knots a day on the record,” he said.
The world record currently stands at 33 days, 21 hours and 46 minutes.
Along with a lack of wind, cloud cover had also conspired against the 11-metre Sara G, which is dependent on the elements to charge its main power source, two 12-volt batteries.
Last week, with the cells almost completely drained, the vessel’s electronics were turned off, meaning the auto navigation unit and water-maker were both down.
“We had to start water rationing and for 24 hours were on one and a half litres of water each for drinking and rehydrating food,” explained the adventurer.
“Water rationing also meant food rationing as a lot of the food is rehydrated, and when rowing 12 hours a day at this stage after three weeks of hard pulling on the oars, there was a noticeable physical effect on the pulling power of the team from dehydration and lack of food.”
In what is clearly a superhuman effort, the oar-some athletes put in roughly 2400 strokes per two hour session rowing, over six sessions a day, taking a two-hour break between shifts.
“None of us have slept for more than 90 minutes at a time since New Year’s Day,” he said.
“We are all often fighting heavy eyelids and it takes a dose of caffeine tablets to see us through most nights whilst rowing.”
But by Friday, enough power had been stored to make water and although chances of smashing the world record looked slim, Beaumont said the onboard banter and camaraderie remained watertight.
In fact, two of the crew – skipper Matt Craughwell and Simon Brown – even dived overboard to scrape more barnacles off the boat.
“It’s the last thing they could think of doing to increase the speed of the boat, but the bottom line is the boat and crew are fine and doing everything they can, and it’s due to the conditions that they have been losing knots,” he said.
Beaumont first grabbed the headlines in 2008 by cycling round the world in 194 days and 17 hours – breaking the previous record by 81 days.
He then completed a cycling epic from Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina before turning to rowing across the Arctic last year.
