Crossing the Atlantic in a rowing boat

xileffilex
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Crossing the Atlantic in a rowing boat

Unread post by xileffilex »

Are translatlantic rowing races real?

The aim behind them is to advertise the sponsor and for participants to raise money for charities.


I ask because a thousand miles from nowhere, living on a diet of dried food, never getting a good night's sleep, burning 5000 calories per day, desalinating water, navigating...and you emerge looking in the peak of health but as if you'd forgotten to shave a few times [fb account required to view]


notice this team, selected at random, they are just 333 GBP short of their goal. Amazing.
This is the alleged tracker, showing other participants.


among them another team picked at random - again they look fabulously healthy after 3000 miles [unlike say, a marathon runner at the finish]


The teams can all be found here on the live tracker, most have finished as of now, barring four boats still travelling and a further one back at the start ***
https://www.deadlegz.co.uk/live-tracker

*** and this is another media story, a 70 year old English man [most teams are English] "fit as a fiddle"
https://web.archive.org/web/20241209121 ... /#bigpoppa
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj0j5984nyjo
Nov 29 2024
but who encountered "technical difficulties" shortly after setting off [no other teams seem to have suffered this]
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgmp0g7y28o
Dec 11 2024 [errr, wasn't the race said to start on Dec 12?]

I won't bother looking for any more teams which obviously never had any issues, an amazing success rate with no plan B available.

The previous Talisker Whisky translatlantic challenge did throw up an adverse incident - the alleged death of an Australian skipper shortly after starting [again...]
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... e-atlantic
Jan 6 2024
Race organisers "confirmed" that the "former spy" had died aged 61 from a heart attack on January 4 2024
Putt’s crewmates – Stuart Moore, Andreas Koenig and Alastair Horton – were onboard a safety vessel heading back to land.

“This tragedy will of course also have a profound impact on the other 37 teams we have still racing across the Atlantic,” race organisers said.

“The family of Alisdair have asked for understanding and support in respecting their privacy during this period of mourning.
What happened to the body? Good job it didn't happen 1500 miles out, otherwise there might have had to be a burial at sea.

The next day, fellow entrant and solo Australian rower Liz Wardley posts on instagram about the "passing" of Putt
https://x.com/LizWardley/status/1743358384823550413
https://web.archive.org/web/20231214100 ... -entrants/

One year on...donate donate
https://www.instagram.com/vibethewave_/p/DEZZPlSvMHg/
The Go Fun Me donate needle is stuck at GBP 19999 !!! Hmmm. Someone chip in a quid, quick
https://www.gofundme.com/f/aussie-old-s ... r-veterans
A Scottish "mum" finished the same event in the rudest of health
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... t-68315612
Feb 17 2024

inspiring another Scottish "mum" to take on the challenge in 2024/5
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/ne ... antic-row/

It all sound pretty safe, like flying in a plane. Perhaps it's all real...
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Unreal
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Re: Crossing the Atlantic in a rowing boat

Unread post by Unreal »

xileffilex wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2025 8:43 am Are translatlantic rowing races real?

[...]

It all sound pretty safe, like flying in a plane. Perhaps it's all real...
-
There is clearly a con going on here - and not necessarily just in the rowing faction of these races. In one of the articles you @xileffilex linked above, one jumped out as having evident duping delight in the naming. If grandad didn't cross the Atlantic in a rowing boat, his hands were not all that busy. His hands lie as it were - or Handley as the grandad is called.
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Grandad 'fit as a fiddle' for 3,000-mile row
(article)
Image
Vic Handley will begin his 3,000-mile rowing challenge on 12 December (article as above)
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In a more expansive take on boat races as a whole, these all seem to fit a broader agenda that is to sell the world as Globe. With maps that match the territory. Every year since more or less the 1960s there have been multiple Trans-Atlantic boat races, Trans-Pacific rallies and Around the World competitions aka Circumnavigation.
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If our maps do NOT match the actual territory, then they would need to dupe us into believing these maps do make sense. Organising boat races would in this circumstance make complete sense in order to give the impression our maps are kosher and nothing wrong with any of them. And to participate in these races, you automatically will need to be an Elite to have the funding and contact network.
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Transatlantic sailing competitions:
  1. 1866: First Transatlantic Yacht Race : New York Harbor to Cowes, Isle of Wight (1 edition)
  2. 1960: OSTAR - The Transat : from Plymouth, UK to Newport, RI (15 editions)
  3. 1978: Route du Rhum - From Saint-Malo to Pointe-à-Pitre (12 editions)
  4. 1986: Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) : from Gran Canaria to Saint Lucia (38 editions)
  5. 2004: The Transat CIC (formerly The Transat) : Lorient, France to New York, USA (15 editions)
  6. 2014: RORC Transatlantic Race : From Lanzarote to Grenada (11 editions)
  7. 2025: Transatlantic Race : From Newport, RI to Cowes (1 edition)
Transpacific sailing competitions:
  1. 1906: Transpacific Yacht Race - Transpac : San Pedro to Honolulu (52 editions)
  2. 1925: Tahiti Race : San Francisco to Tahiti (15 editions)
  3. 1965: Victoria to Maui International Yacht Race (Vic-Maui) : Victoria Canada to Lahaina Hawaii (24 editions)
  4. 1980: Pacific Cup : San Francisco to Kaneohe, Hawaii (21 editions)
Circumnavigation Yacht Races:
  1. 1968: Sunday Times Golden Globe Race - from/to Falmouth, UK (1 edition)
  2. 1973: Whitbread Round the World Race (later The Volvo Ocean Race, now The Ocean Race) - from/to Portsmouth, UK (14 editions)
  3. 1989: Vendée Globe - Start/Finish: Les Sables-d'Olonne, France (9 editions)
  4. 1996: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race (Pacific Leg) : Route varies (12 editions)
  5. 2001: Volvo Ocean Race (Whitbread Race) - Start/Finish: Various locations (8 editions)
  6. 2018: Golden Globe Race (modern revival) - Start/Finish: Les Sables-d'Olonne, France (2 editions)
  7. 2023: The Ocean Race (formerly Volvo Ocean Race) : Alicante, Spain to Genoa, Italy (1 edition)
xileffilex
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Re: Crossing the Atlantic in a rowing boat

Unread post by xileffilex »

Surely there must have been the odd disaster during these hazardous trips with no safety net
I had a brief look - and immediately my psyometer went off the scale...
and it's less than a year ago
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north- ... d-28783714
A North Wales man tragically lost his life in the Atlantic Ocean when a wave hit his boat and injured his hand, an inquest has heard. Michael Holt, aged 54, died from "polytrauma due to accidental injury,[" according to the doctor who examined him.

Mr Holt, from Porthmadog, Gwynedd, set off from Gran Canaria on 27 January with the aim of reaching Barbados for charity. A Type 1 diabetic, he managed to complete 700 miles of the challenge before falling ill. He was later found dead on his boat.
The cause of death was given as "polytrauma" - which means two or more severe injuries in at least two areas of the body. Coroner Andre Rebello described it as a "tragic accidental death" at the hearing in inquest in Liverpool, the BBC reported.

His death was registered in Cape Verde and his family raised over £20,000 to bring his body back home. Just days before his death, he lost an oar and cut his hand when a strong wave "nearly knocked him overboard".


update
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/26492104/ ... row-shark/
An update from his family on February 15 said that his boat was attacked by a terrifying 10ft shark - believed to be a fearsome oceanic white-tip.

He felt the shark biting the rudder, but he "took it all in his stride...and carried on rowing."
Brave Michael also had three killer whales swimming around his boat at one point of the journey.
Just days before the tragedy he lost an oar and cut his hand when he was "nearly knocked overboard" by a powerful wave.
He then told his relatives that he was suffering from seasickness which he put down to a bad reaction to "taking some antibiotics".
As a result, he decided to postpone his journey to Barbados and begin rowing 300 miles south to Cape Verde.
Image

All recorded on facebook of course
https://www.facebook.com/needlesandpinsvoyage/
Needles and Pins

Michael's family have asked us to share the following update.
Spotter planes went to Michael's position at 06:30 yesterday, they located the vessel but Michael was not on deck at that time.
Fishing vessel Noruego was tasked with heading to Michael's position yesterday. This vessel is underway and is expected to arrive around 17:00 UK time today. In the meantime Omnicron Atlas, a tanker on route to Venice has also responded to the mayday, and is now at the scene.
Michael's brother David has direct communication with the skipper of this vessel.
Due to the vessel's type and sheer size, trying to get down to the rowing boat is likely to be impossible, however they will remain in place to support the fishing vessel when it arrives.
The family thank you for all of your well wishes - when there is a substantial update - we'll update you here.


with the all-important GoFunMe for repatriation of the body of the type-1 diabetic from Cabo Verde
https://www.gofundme.com/f/eufw6h-pleas ... chael-home

Funeral April 3 2024.

From the website
https://web.archive.org/web/20230516044 ... oyage.com/
As he is a novice rower, but is venturing solo and unsupported, he is working alongside Dawn Wood of Aurora Sea School. Dawn has many years' experience as a professional mariner, RYA instructor and working in the ocean rowing industry. Dawn completed a solo and unsupported row across the Atlantic from Gran Canaria to Barbados in 2019, after 53 days on open ocean.
No probate issued to date.
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Re: Crossing the Atlantic in a rowing boat

Unread post by xileffilex »

In the deadlegz.co.uk live tracker [op cit] we see a boat which has turned left rather than crossed the Atlantic. That's the rowing boat of oarsman Martin Stengele [Germany]
He has a prolific instagram feed but his decision to retire seems to have been without reason

Team All 4 One has retired from the World’s Toughest Row – Atlantic 2024.

Over the coming days, Martin will be met by one of our support vessels, and together with his boat, he will be recovered to Cape Verde. There, we will assist him and his home team with logistics and his repatriation back to Germany to reunite with his family and loved ones.
Team All 4 One has retired from the World’s Toughest Row – Atlantic 2024.

Over the coming days, Martin will be met by one of our support vessels, and together with his boat, he will be recovered to Cape Verde. There, we will assist him and his home team with logistics and his repatriation back to Germany to reunite with his family and loved ones.[/quote]

But no, Martin hung around Cabo Verde, then caught a motor yacht to Grenada to meet other successful entrants...


Meanwhile another British team, 2 female 1 male, is nearing the finish, looking forward to a cup of tea. Really.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/ebb-flow-atlantic-row-2024 [88K raised]
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