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The Elegant Hotels Group has thrown its support behind the Barbadian team of Phil Als and Nils Mannerstedt in their quest to create history later this year by taking part in the Atlantic Rowing Challenge.
Chief operating officer Gildas Renaux recently presented a sponsorship cheque to the team, the first team from the Caribbean to enter the high profile international event.
“We are very excited to be able to assist you with your quest. This is definitely the type of event Elegant Hotels likes to associate itself with. Something that is different, challenging and unique. We are really happy that we could be involved and want to wish you the best of luck,” Gildas told the duo.
Both Als and Mannerstedt thanked the company for the support, saying they were looking forward to the challenge of rowing approximately 3 000 nautical miles from
Tenerife to Port St Charles.
The Atlantic Rowing Challenge comes off in October and will see identical ocean rowing boats compete on equal terms on the course across the Atlantic. Organised by Sir Chay Blyth’s Challenge Business, the race attracted a field of 32 international teams for the last race in 2001. Fewer people have completed this challenge than have scaled Everest. The world record for the race stands at just over 41 days. However, most teams take between 50 to 100 days to complete it.
Als, a Barbadian, has been an athlete both on land and in the water for his entire life, and has represented the country on several occasions. He has considerable knowledge of yachting, windsurfing and the sea, having circumnavigated Barbados twice on a windsurfer. He also attended the Sydney 2000 Olympics as a coach for the Barbados Windsurfing Team, and has been a competitor on the mountain bike race circuit.
Mannerstedt, originally from Sweden, has been a resident of Barbados since 1989. The former owner and executive chef of Restaurant 19 at Royal Westmoreland, is also an advanced scuba diver and an amateur yachtsman who kayaks in his spare time. |
