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By Simon Drury
Runcorn Weekly News
ROWING: RUNCORN'S heroic rowers Jason McKinlay and Phil Carrington have
crossed the finishing line in an amazing fourth place
after a gruelling 50 days on the Atlantic.
A year ago, the duo had never rowed before but after a month-and-a-half
at sea they became the first British boat to complete
the Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race at 10.50pm on Tuesday night.
Now the pair can expect a heroes' welcome when they return to their home
town in the next fortnight.
On Tuesday Jason and Phil caught their first glimpse of land since
setting off from La Gomera and Lanzarotte when they
spotted the coast of Barbados.
However, it was a long and hard final battle for the pair on their final
approach to the finish as they battled through
Monday night to stay on course in rough seas.
In the last seven days, they have rowed more than 400 nautical miles
after weeks at sea, snatching sleep and food and water
when able.
It took them 10 hours to row the final eight nautical miles before
docking at Port St Charles late on Tuesday night.
The result was a triumph for Jason and Phil who hope to have raised
thousands for McMillan Cancer Relief.
The rowing novices finished well ahead of the 15-strong compliment of
teams in their boat which they assembled from a
flat-pack kit.
Before being allowed to compete, Jason and Phil had to raise £60,000 to
earn their place in the starting line-up.
The pair rowed through shark-infested waters and extreme weather
conditions to beat more experienced teams to the finishing
line.
They have experienced problems after being blown off course and had to
survive on just five litres of water per day between
them when their water maker developed a fault.
Now they will be looking forward to returning to Runcorn in triumph. |
