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NEWS |
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Growing appeal of ocean challenge |
| January 28, 2003 By Jonathan Gornall |
IT’S not everybody’s idea of how to spend a few months and thousands of pounds, but ocean rowing has never been more popular. As well as Halsey’s voyage, two solo Atlantic attempts are under way and seven more solo voyages are planned this year alone. Mick Dawson, who crossed the Atlantic with his brother Steve in 2001, intends to row the North Pacific solo, setting out for San Francisco from Japan. Theodor Rezvoy, who is from Ukraine, plans to row from New York to France, recreating the voyage of the Norwegians George Harbo and Frank Samuelson, who in 1896 became the first to cross an ocean in a rowing boat. Simon Chalk, from Leicester, is to cross the Indian Ocean. Back in 1966 John Ridgway and Chay Blyth, two serving Paras, made only the second crossing of the Atlantic by rowing boat. With the advent of watermakers and GPS satellite navigation systems, the challenge has come within the grasp of more people, and Sir Chay’s company Challenge Business set up a regular transatlantic race. The third event sets off from the Canary Islands in October; 30 teams are expected to take part. Next January entrants begin the Ocean Rowing Society’s first transatlantic race. Since 1966 there have been almost 100 crossings of oceans by solo or paired rowers, four Britons, one Russian and, most recently, an American, having died in the attempt. In 1996 Peter Bird, a Briton, was lost after 1,400 miles of an attempt to row the Pacific from Russia. The first to die were David Johnstone and John Hoare, two Britons trying to cross the Atlantic in 1966, at the same time as Blyth and Ridgway. Jonathan Gornall competed in the 2001 transatlantic rowing race from Tenerife to Barbados. The watermaker was faulty and the food contaminated by seawater; he had to be picked up by a yacht after 48 days and 1,100 miles. |
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