OCEAN ROWING
ENDURANCE Fast Row West
The Indian Ocean beckons for four young adventurers WORDS ANT ADEANE // PHOTOGRAPHY FORTNUM & MASON
R 98
owing across the Atlantic Ocean would, for most people, be the challenge of a lifetime. But for one intrepid adventurer, it’s not even the greatest challenge of 2014.
On January 27 of this year Jamie Sparks made headlines by becoming one half of the youngest pair ever to row across the Atlantic. Battling 40-foot waves and swirling storms, Sparks and his rowing partner Luke Birch pushed their bodies and minds to the limit, crossing the 3000-mile stretch of ocean in an impressive 54 days. Having raised a record-breaking £315,000 for Breast Cancer Care in the process, you would be forgiven for thinking that Sparks might put his feet up and have a well- earned rest.
But in June Sparks will captain a
team of four who will attempt to break two world records in their effort to be- come both the fastest and the youngest team to cross the Indian Ocean. The four-man team, called Fast Row West, are aiming to beat the record set in 2013 by a three-man team who man- aged to reach Mauritius from Geraldton in Australia in 57 days, 15 hours and 49 minutes. A mixture of university students and recent graduates, the Fast Row West team is comprised of Hamish Khayat (23), Angus Collins (24), Alex Simpson (22), and Sparks (22). Sparks is the only member with experience of rowing across an ocean, but the other
three are all impressive athletes in their own right. Standing at 6 feet 5 inch- es, Simpson was vice captain of the Manchester University Boat Club, and rowed for the university’s 1st IV and 1st VIII, while Collins is a coastal rower who works for boat builders Rannoch Ad- venture. Khayat has run five marathons, the most recent being Barcelona which he completed in 3hr 18mins. So far so good. They certainly have the physi- cal attributes to get them across, but what impresses most is their tight and focused team ethic and their determi- nation to see the task through. The only thing standing in their way is the ocean itself.
300 miles longer than the Atlantic
Ocean, and posing a very different set of challenges, it would be an under- statement to say that rowing across the Indian Ocean is not for the faint-hearted. The first successful crossing of the Indi- an Ocean by rowing was accomplished by Anders Svedlund in 1971. In total there have been 18 successful crossings of the Indian Ocean and a further 19 failed attempts. By comparison there have been 304 successful rows of the Atlantic Ocean, 282 East-to-West and 22 West-to-East. Starting in Exmouth in Western Australia and finishing in Grand Baie in Mauritius, it is the first 200 miles that the team have wisely marked out as some of the most dangerous of the expedition. The difficulty of getting off the Continental Shelf must not be un- derestimated: unpredictable reefs, heavy swells, and challenging navigation will
provide a stiff test of the team’s mettle in the early stages of their journey. Then it’s into the deep ocean where
the weather can either markedly improve or drastically deteriorate. The rowers will stick to a strict two hours on, two hours off routine with two of them rowing and two of them sleep- ing at any one time. They will battle sunstroke, marine wildlife, dehydration, huge swells, sores, infections, sleep deprivation, physical fatigue, mental strain, and cabin fever, as well as a bit of soul-crushing boredom thrown in for good measure. They’ll have to be on their guard right up to the end because the final stretch of the expedition will pose them some of the trickiest prob- lems of the whole trip. The treacher- ous eastern point of the Grand Baie on Mauritius Island has scuppered the chances of a few boats within touching distance of the finishing line. The last place you want your equip-
ment to fail is in the middle of the Indian Ocean and the boys have taken pre- cautions to ensure they are excellently equipped for the journey. A lot of boats have struggled with power problems due to their overreliance on solar panels. But the importance of an Efoy fuel cell cannot be underestimated. The Fast Row West team will have one onboard their boat, as well as three 80 watt solar panels. These batteries will power their navigation system, VHF radio, and a Schenker watermaker capable of pro- ducing 30 litres an hour, while still hav- ing enough juice left over to give phones
ROW360 // Issue 001
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