The Independent Blogs
By Mark Beaumont
Sport – Latest analysis on the Sporting world
I am now en-route to Morocco to take on the mighty Atlantic Ocean. Our team of six plan to row over 100 nautical miles a day for a month to achieve our dream – the first sub 30 day crossing. The 1st team to break this barrier will achieve an unassailable mark in the sports history.
But what is that history? Ocean rowing is a niche sport whose popularity has exploded in recent years. In 2005 James Cracknell and Ben Fogle rowed the Atlantic. Their documentary ‘Through Hell and High Water’ thrust ocean rowing into the British public’s psyche. People still look at you strangely when you say that you plan to row an ocean – to most it is still certifiably bonkers – but most have at least heard of the idea!
The first ocean row was undertaken by two Norwegians, Frank Samuelsen and George Harbo, who rowed an open wooden boat from New York to France in 1896. It would be seventy years before the next ocean row in 1966, when John Ridgeway and Sir Chay Blythe succeeded in rowing from Newfoundland to Ireland.
Until 1988, only 19 people had ever rowed an ocean. Now, there have been over 500, according to the Ocean Rowing Society www.oceanrowing.com. Strangely, 321 of these have been Britons – It seems that we are quite good at escaping our little island! 500 people to have rowed an ocean sounds quite a lot, until you consider that over 3000 people have stood on the top of Mount Everest!
The first ocean rows were undertaken without any modern technologies and communications. They had to carry all the water they needed for their entire journeys and were truly tenacious and pioneering voyages. Gerard d’Aboville (1896-1982), who rowed the Atlantic, once said about these early crossings, ‘We were like test pilots, but without a parachute.’
Thankfully, our expedition is a lot safer – we have learnt from all those brave ocean rowers who have gone before and have the benefit of modern technologies. However, none of this makes the Atlantic any smaller and the task ahead is incredibly daunting.
Check back in a few days to hear about our final preparations and the last few days on dry land.
