OCEAN ROWING

Pages 223-225

The first 12 ocean rows of modern times were all undertaken without water makers or satellite phones, in conditions which were not much different from the days of Columbus. After the first solo crossing by Gerard d'Aboville of France in July 1980, he said he "felt like a test pilot without a parachute".

There have been sixty crossings since the Millennium. In the November 2003 - January 2004 Atlantic Rowing Race there were 15 starters who took between 40-91 days to finish