About Atlantic Adventurer
'Without us mountains and oceans have no meaning by themselves - they 'are there' and always will be but, for a very few their presence inspires a dream of pitting our puny strength against their might, and to conquor not them but ourselves. The quest to prove worthy of an almost inconceivable challenge is our greatest reward.'
John Fairfax - the first man to row single handed across the Atlantic, 1969
The History behind the Race
The Atlantic Rowing Race is one of the toughest tests of human endurance in the world and is a biannual challenge organised by Dorset based Woodvale Events and sees rowers of all abilities and backgrounds take to the open ocean in an attempt to cross a 3,000 mile expanse of water powered only by their own strength and determination to overcome the difficulties of being at sea, be that the weather, the isolation, or the physical test.
With an average crossing time of between 55 and 65 days the Atlantic Rowing Race 2009 will be the sixth race of its kind and will start from La Gomera in the Canary Islands on 6th December 2009 and will see a maximum of 40 teams in three different classes - the Open Solo Class, the Design Pairs Class and the Design Fours Class race across the Atlantic to the finishing line in Antigua in the West Indies.
The competitors who start in this unique race will follow in the footsteps of an elite group of only 200 other people, including the likes of British celebrities, BBC television presenter, Ben Fogle and double Olympic Gold Medal rower, James Cracknell who finished second in the 2005 pairs class with a very respectable time of 49 days 19hours and 8 minutes.
Ocean rowing is a sport which has only been around for about a century, at least in it's form as a competitive pursuit. Whilst it cannot be determined if oceans were rowed prior to events that took place in the late nineteenth century, there is certainly no documentation to suggest that they may have been. For this reason, Frank Samuelsen and George Harbo could honestly claim to be the worlds first ocean rowers after their successful crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in 1896. Departing from Manhattan in June and arriving in Le Havre, France at the beginning of August, the Norwegian born American emigrants made the 3,250 mile trip because they wanted to make a name for themselves. This is certainly what happened, and their record for the crossing still stands.
Since their successful crossing a number of solo and group attempts have been made. John Fairfax became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s for making a successful solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean and a subsequent successful crossing of the Pacific with his partner Sylvia Cook. Another successful ocean rower, Sir Charles Blyth took 92 days to cross the Atlantic East to West rowing from Cape Cod to Ireland in a 20ft open top fishing boat with Captain John Ridgway whilst they were both in the Army. Blyth later introduced the Atlantic Rowing Race in 1995 and after a further race in 2001 Woodvale Events became the principal sponsor of the race in 2003 before purchasing the race outright and, in 2005, the first Woodvale Atlantic Challenge was staged. The success of these courageous sports people prompted ocean rowing to become more of a mainstream pursuit and in recent decades individuals and groups have taken up the challenge. The focus has been mainly on the Atlantic Ocean, possibly due to the fact that both sides of the Ocean are bordered by western English speaking nations.
