ORS

Reply of Kenneth F.Crutchlow to the misstatements made by Teresa Page (Evans)

Project Manager - Challenge Ocean Rowing, Challenge Business

On 23rd July Martin Like posted the following on ORS Forum, followed by an email he said he received from Teresa Page (formerly Evans) on May 27th 2003:

From: Martin Like

Posted: 23-07-2004

Regarding poaching, I notice a little bit of pot calling the kettle black .... Woodvales predecessors (Challenge Business) wrote privately to me, taking my email address directly off the forum when I ask about the ORS event a year ago the email said....

" I have just read your query posted on the Ocean Rowing Society forum and thought I would drop you a quick line regarding the costs of entering the Atlantic Rowing Challenge and the Ocean Rowing Society races.

Yes, the Atlantic Rowing Challenge 2005 is more expensive to enter than the Ocean Rowing Society race but there are no hidden costs associated to our Race. The following is included within the cost of the entry fee for the Atlantic Rowing Challenge 2005:

1. Race Safety Vessel(s) - Challenge Business 67ft Ocean going yachts with professional skippers and crew members.
2. Race Organization - including berthing at the ports, hard standing space and permission from the Spanish Maritime Authorities to start the crossing.
3. Race Insurance for each competitor - Extended travel insurance policy to include search, rescue at sea and repatriation to your home country.
4. Race Tracking System - Inmarsat D+ tracking system loaned to you for the duration of the Race.
5. Team Meetings and Parties
6. All Race Administration

If you read the small print for entry in to the Ocean Rowing Society Race, you will see that the Race Insurance and Race tracking system are not included in the entry fee but are a compulsory requirement of participation. Therefore, the end cost of taking part in the Ocean Rowing Society Race is virtually the same as the Challenge Business Race.

I hope that this information helps to clarify the matter and please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any further assistance.

With kind regards

Yours sincerely

Teresa Page
Project Manager - Challenge Ocean Rowing
Challenge Business

Tel: +44 (0) 1752 565654
Fax: +44 (0) 1752 565651 mailto:teresapage@challengebusiness-plym.com

At no time in any of the many subsequent discussion with the ORS did anyone try to undermine the Challenge Business race at all.
Now this situation might have been unique, but somehow I doubt it.
.....................................................................................................................

I take this chance to correct the misstatements made.

1. Race Safety Vessel(s) - Challenge Business 67ft Ocean going yachts with professional skippers and crew members.

ORS, during Regatta, had 3 safety vessels crewed by “volunteers”, all with many years of sailing experience; in addition, two skippers - Peter Hogden and Stein Hoff, - and two crew members - Diana Hoff and Phil Scantlebury, - are ocean rowers. As I understand it the Captain on Challenge yacht named “Woodvale” was a professional, the rest were volunteers. The suggestion made here is that ORS volunteers are not as good as Challenge “Professionals”. I suggest the record of the 3 ORS support yachts speaks for itself.

2. Race Organisation - including berthing at the ports, hard standing space and permission from the Spanish Maritime Authorities to start the crossing.

It is ironic, when you know that in October 2001 the race, that had been announced to start in Los Gigantes, started from San Juan. Up to the start day the organizers were insisting (and the banners, posted in Los Gigantes the day before the start, were confirming) that the race would start from Los Gigantes. All this because of the failure of Teresa to ask Juan Dopido (harbour Master in Los Gigantes) permission to start the 2001 race from there.
Then, when following the suggestion of ORS, Norman Butler and Theodore Rezvoy left from La Gomera, ORS made arrangements with Harbour Master in the Marina San Sebastian to host forthcoming ocean regatta and then announced it as a start point of ORSARR 2004. Challenge Business followed ORS to La Gomera.

3. Race Insurance for each competitor - Extended travel insurance policy to include search, rescue at sea and repatriation to your home country.

By carrying an EPIRB it means that anyone requiring a rescue can under the AMVER agreement be picked up at no charge. No matter in Challenge race or ORS Regatta.

4. Race Tracking System - Inmarsat D+ tracking system loaned to you for the duration of the Race.
The Inmarsat D system relies on power from the ocean rowboat, and is no comparison to Argos that sends 20 positions a day using its own power source.

5. Team Meetings and Parties
In 2003 ORS conducted monthly free seminars for oceanrowers, attended by future entrants both in ORSARR and Challenge Business Race and by those who were planning to row individually.

6. All Race Administration
Certainly one would expect these items to be included in the entry fee.

If you read the small print for entry in to the Ocean Rowing Society Race, you will see that the Race Insurance and Race tracking system are not included in the entry fee but are a compulsory requirement of participation.

This statement is untrue: the Race Insurance is not a compulsory requirement of participation and the ORS entry fee (8750.00GBP) DID include the Argos tracking beacons.

Therefore, the end cost of taking part in the Ocean Rowing Society Race is virtually the same as the Challenge Business Race.
This statement is also untrue, it costs 5000.00GBP more to enter the Challenge race than the ORS Regatta. And a needless (in our opinion) requirement of Challenge Race of delivering the boats from Santa Cruz to La Gomera in containers added an extra 1000.00GBP to shipping cost and did not reduce risk of damage to warrant such a charge.

Kenneth F. Crutchlow