Team Graft Row’s battle with a marlin
Yesterday (Thursday 26 Dec), Team Graft Row (UK), currently in 3rd place, encountered a dramatic and unforeseen challenge. A marlin struck their vessel, piercing the hull of their stern cabin and flooding the compartment beneath. Displaying gutsy teamwork and expertise, the crew managed to carry out essential repairs both within the flooded area and underwater. They are now back on course, heading toward Antigua with 1540 nautical miles to go.
Row4Cancer – Overall race leader
Row4Cancer (Netherlands), a four-man row team of experienced crew: Mark Slats, Leon Koning, Tom Rijnders, and Maarten Diepeveen. They continue to dominate the race, lying in first place In All boats, Fours and the Men’s Class. Row4Cancer is travelling at 2.9 knots per hour with 1397 NM to go until they reach the finish line.
In the last 24 hours they’ve covered 50 NM. Via satellite phone Row4Cancer have told supporters that they’ve cleaned the boat and taken a quick dip in the water. The hull needs regular cleaning to remove small barnacles that slow the boat down. It was a sunny day, which helped recharge their batteries. Time seems to fly, but unfortunately, the wind doesn’t. While the forecast isn’t ideal, they’re staying positive and pushing on!
Ocean Empower – Leading Women’s Crew
First in the Women’s Class, seventh in the Fours, eleventh in All Boats, and Category Positions: 1st in Women’s Class, 7th in Fours, and 11th in All Boats Ocean Empower (United Kingdom) is making excellent progress and are up with the front runners of the race. Ocean Empower is travelling at 1.6 knots per hour with approximately 1659 NM to go until they reach the finish line. In the past 24 hours they’ve travelled 44 NM.
Ocean Empower‘s crew of Dawn Smith, Deborah Cope, Kerry Swanton, and Fiona Steel are making steady progress, inspiring rowers worldwide. The winds are starting to turn, which will likely affect the whole fleet, but with their southerly position, they’re in the best place they can be.
Ocean Ways – Solo category leader
In the solo category, Ocean Ways (D12), helmed by Marc Germiquet of Botswana, leads the charge. He is doing well, clocking speeds comparable to those of crews with multiple rowers in a single boat. Surprisingly Ocean Ways lies in ninth place overall. Gemiquet has settled into a rhythm and is placed very well given he is crewing solo. He rows at 2.1 knots an hour, rowing with a mix of conditions⏤some big seas occasionally work in his favour while at other times creating a more challenging and confused swell.
Twice now, Gemiquet has hopped into the ocean to clean the hull of his boat. A welcome break from the tedium of rowing. In the last 24 hours he has covered 56 NM. Ocean Ways is also lying eighth in the Men’s category. So far, he has rowed an incredible 1,027 nautical miles, with 1,700 nautical miles still separating him from the finish line in Antigua. The wind has dropped, making progress tough, and many boats, including Gemiquet’s, are heading further south as the changing wind patterns present new challenges. The next 1,000 nautical miles will surely test the rowers even further.
New Zealand’s Glimmering Sea Update
Representing New Zealand, Glimmering Sea is holding their ground with 2029.3 NM until they reach the finish line in Antigua. Rowed by couple, Bob and Nicola Parr, Glimmering Sea‘s current speed is 1.2 knots. Over the last 24 hours, they’ve covered 26 NM.
The Parr’s 23 Dec 2024 ships log captures the highs and lows of ocean rowing:
“The wind has shifted into the north and reduced in strength. At some point it may well become unfavourable, in which case we will be back on the dreaded para anchor to limit backwards drift. And so the cycle continues!
The days are gradually blending into a timeless blur of relentless movement, snack-pack monotony and necessary ablutions. The sun rises, arcs overhead and declines to the west. Patchy clouds chase across a blue sky that is tinged faintly brown by the sands of the Sahara.
We monitor our two batteries constantly, changing from one to the other as their voltages decline, trying to ensure balance, keen to retain capacity.
Our cabins heat up during the day, and though not yet rancid they carry an odour best described as borderline disgusting.
We rehydrate freeze-dried food using water boiled on a gas camping stove, working our way through meals that are good and bad… but mostly indifferent.
Our bodies adapt to the motion of the ocean, which render the sensation of travel akin to being stuck on a fairground ride 24/7… one of those vomit-inducing spinning teacups, perhaps.
Intermittent sleep is rudely disturbed by loud bangs as breaking waves slap against the hull, a sound so loud that time and again you think the boat must have hit a solid object.
The tillerpilot jams, and we scramble in the dark to reset the thing, pressing buttons, centring the rudder, adjusting the course to get us moving once more downwind.
And so we continue westwards, with a little south, at the mercy of the trade winds, our only auxiliary power the strength of our own arms and backs and legs.
This truly is an elemental experience. Together on this tiny boat on a vast, heaving sea that is five miles deep and wholly indifferent to our presence. Somewhere far ahead a tiny speck of land awaits. Fluffy beds, dry cotton sheets, fresh water showers. It does seem like Paradise awaits… and awaits… and awaits…
Nicky & Bob.”
Closing Thoughts
The World’s Toughest Row – Atlantic 2024 continues to push crews to their limits while showcasing the extraordinary spirit of human endurance. Whether overcoming marlin strikes, battling shifting winds, or enduring the relentless rhythm of ocean rowing, each team’s journey is a testament to courage and resilience. Stay tuned as these incredible athletes inch closer to Antigua and the finish line.
