In the last Prospects, JM Finn Investment Manager Laura Langton covered the mental and physical preparations the team are undertaking for their upcoming 3,000 mile transatlantic row. This issue, teammate Lizz Watson gives an update on fundraising and their progress with meeting requirements for the minimum time spent at sea before the challenge begins.
We now have just a month or two until we start our Atlantic row, and only weeks until our boat ships to the start line in La Gomera in the Canary Islands. The pressure is well and truly on as we prepare for the World’s Toughest Row – Atlantic 2023, and it’s been a very busy couple of months since Laura Langton’s first update in Prospects.
Throughout June and July Ace of Blades were on a road trip of sorts with our boat, the SS1. First, we visited the Cheltenham Science Festival, where we captured the imagination of countless children and young people with just how many aspects there are to an adventure like ours. Next, we headed to the Henley Royal Regatta, which proved very successful from a fundraising perspective. We were able to sell lots of raffle tickets, and we’re very grateful to our sponsors JM Finn and Knight Frank for donating some excellent prizes for this (head to teamaceofblades.com/raffle for more information).
We completed the road trip with a sponsored row hosted by JM Finn in Queen Square, Bristol. This was an excellent opportunity for us to meet more of the JM Finn team, as well as others who live and work in and around Bristol. We had a busy lunchbreak as people flocked to ask questions about the boat and our challenge. The refreshments provided by JM Finn were gratefully received, especially by those who jumped on the rowing machines to help us cover 75 miles, our average daily target for our Atlantic row.
Events complete, Ace of Blades have since been focused firmly on training, spending as much time as possible on our boat. There is a minimum number of hours we must achieve to take part in the challenge: 120 for each person, 72 hours as a full team on board, at least one 36-hour row, and 24 hours of rowing at night.
At the time of writing, we are well over halfway to meeting these minimum requirements, but there have been some frustrations. I’m sure everyone is aware how terrible the weather has been throughout July and into August! While we don’t shy away from heavy rain and the cold, we do have to be mindful of the wind during training rows.
Strong winds will be unavoidable during our Atlantic crossing and there is no doubt we will encounter them going in the right and wrong directions. Logic would dictate that we should learn to deal with these conditions during training. However, put simply, there are no rocks to hit in the Atlantic. The safety officers for the race organisers, Atlantic Campaigns, are very clear in their messaging that rowers should not put themselves at risk during training. If you need to be rescued by the RNLI, not only have you endangered yourselves, but also the lifeboat crew. Previous rescues of ocean rowing boats have inevitably ended up on local, and sometimes national news. It’s not a good look for the team, World’s Toughest Row, sponsors or the sport in general.
We are very lucky to be keeping the SS1 in Exmouth Marina. The Harbour Master, Steve, is also a Coxswain for the Exmouth RNLI and his advice on whether to head out on the water has been invaluable. With the option of training out of Exmouth or towing the boat round to Torquay, we have had good options when considering wind conditions and tides. I think we’ve done exceptionally well to get the hours under our belt without putting ourselves at risk unnecessarily, and our plan is still to surpass the minimum time requirements by as much as possible.
There is a minimum number of hours we must achieve to take part in the challenge: 120 for each person, 72 hours as a full team on board, at least one 36-hour row, and 24 hours of rowing at night.
While on the boat we have been learning and practising using different equipment such as our electrical systems, para-anchor and steering systems. We’re also working out what lives where, who sleeps where, and going through processes such as man overboard drills, power management and cooking.
I’ll finish with some excellent news: Ace of Blades have been working hard to secure more partners to help fund our campaign, and we have now been able to pay off the remaining balance on our boat! We only have a little way to go until we are fully funded. Once we are, all of the money we raise from selling on our boat and equipment will be donated to our charities, getting us very close to our £60,000 target for Macmillan, Prostate Cymru and the Outward Bound Trust. This will make this gruelling challenge all the more worthwhile. Follow us @teamaceofblades on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, and we will post details of how to track our passage across the Atlantic on teamaceofblades.com.
Lizz Watson, Ace of Blades
