Oliver Hicks

Man Begins Rowing Across Atlantic Ocean

POSTED: 11:20 am EDT May 27, 2005

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS, N.J. -- With three sets of oars, two months' worth of provisions and one seriously tricked-out rowboat, a 23-year-old British adventurer set out Friday to cross the Atlantic Ocean -- all by himself.
Why solo? "It's one less thing to get wrong," said Oliver Hicks. "Two people is double the job."

Hicks pushed off from a marina dock about 20 miles south of Manhattan in a 24-foot open rowboat, hoping to become the youngest rower ever to make the 3,000-mile trip alone.

His destination: Falmouth, England, an estimated 400,000 strokes away.

"If anyone can do it, he can," said billionaire businessman Richard Branson, Hicks' chief sponsor, who knows a thing or two about extreme travel. "He's going to face some horrendous conditions out there. You have to be fit and incredibly strong mentally," Branson said in a telephone interview.

Hicks, a wiry, soft-spoken 5-foot-8-inch bachelor, hopes to making the crossing -- which has been done by others -- in less than 62 days. He plans to row for 14 hours a day across open seas, strapped into a seat, using 91/2-foot carbon fiber oars.

Among the hazards he'll face within the boat: blisters, hand cramps, strained muscles, saltwater boils.

Then there's the cold, the wind, the potential for 50-foot waves. And the isolation.

"If you're focused enough, you don't get lonely," said John Zeigler, 55, of Secaucus, a trans-Atlantic rower who was among about 50 well-wishers who bid Hicks bon voyage Friday. "You have a job, and it's rowing. But it's difficult. Your body goes through stages. You have to eat 7,000 to 8,000 calories a day, and you can still lose 30 pounds."

Hicks, a recent graduate of Newcastle University, is a veteran of endurance tests. He has previously competed in a desert marathon, an 800-mile bicycle race and a 500-mile kayak run down the Yukon River.

But he's not a veteran sailor. He spent much of his six-month training regimen sailing to learn navigational skills. His charted route will help him take advantage of prevailing winds and ocean currents, he said.

He said he has dreamed of making this voyage since he was a teen, reading about similar exploits. The youngest person ever to row solo across the Atlantic was 29-year-old Emmanuel Coindre, in 2002.

Hicks' red boat, the Virgin Atlantic Solo Challenge, is no fishermen's dinghy. Equipped with a satellite telephone and a computer, it is a self-righting vessel with watertight cabins at the bow and the stern.

And Hicks has packed its cargo holds with creature comforts, including a desalinator that makes seawater drinkable, an iPod music player, a small gas stove, a cache of dehydrated food including potatoes, beef stew and chicken curry -- and a six-pack of Yuengling beer.

And of course, he figures he'll have a chance to fish, so he brought along a pole.

"We're 50 percent proud, 50 percent nervous and 50 percent bewildered as to why he wants to do this," said his father, London lawyer Charles Hicks, 58, who joined with daughter Sophia Hicks, 19, on the dock at the Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club. "I know that's 150 percent, but so be it."

The father, who plans to be in Falmouth when Hicks rows his boat ashore, will keep tabs on his location via a Web site, www.virginrow.com.

He said hopes for the best but is prepared for the worst, the chance his son will die at sea. "You have to be. But at least he'll be doing what he likes to do."

But there was nothing but optimism as Hicks took to the water under a cloudless blue sky. Wearing a blue T-shirt, he stepped into chest-high orange waders and made his final preparations.

Evelein Deweert, 12, walked up to him and gave him a candy bar.

"Have a safe trip, and good luck," she said shyly.

Then Hicks hugged his sister and his father, clapping both on the back. "See you back," he said, before climbing into the boat and sticking his left leg out to shove off against the dock.

"See you on the other side, Ollie!" someone called out.

"Good luck, Ollie!" someone else said.

A fisherman who was about to set out on his boat for the day took it all in.

"My wife won't even let me go fishing at night, and this guy's going (trans-Atlantic) all by himself," said Rich Bakos, 65, of Atlantic Highlands. "It takes all kinds, I guess. Look at Columbus."