The life and less ordinary times of LDC

Following an amazing 27 days at sea the courageous efforts of the Atlantic Odyssey crew came to grief 520 miles from St Charles in Barbados.

On the 30th January at 11.00am the Sara G capsized.

Its crew included Captain Matt Craughwell, Ian Rowe, Aodhan Kelly, Simon Brown, Yaacov Mutnikas and Mark Beaumont – all six members safely exited the overturned boat.

Sara G was hit by a large wave 1.5 minutes before the rowers completed their shift change which was performed on a two hours on – two hours off basis. The wave rotated the vessel 180 degrees causing it to immediately take on water causing it to capsize within ten seconds.

In the next fifteen minutes the crew secured the life raft and attached it to the boat. They set-off their alerting alarms which initiated a response from Falmouth Coast Guard.

The crew did try to recover the vessel but due to the speed of the water retention, this proved unsuccessful.

The crew spent approximately three hours recovering on the raft before Matthew Craughwell and Mark Beaumont returned to the vessel to recover equipment to aid the rescue attempt.

At 1.10am on the 31st, the crew were rescued by the Nord Taipei, a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship and proceeded to Gibraltar where they arrived safely on February 9. 

The crew were magnificent throughout their record attempt and in the professional way they handled an extremely stressful and life threatening situation. The Atlantic Row is one of the world’s greatest physical challenges and ultimately they were at the mercy of the unpredictable nature of the sea which unfortunately resulted in the vessel capsizing.

Everyone at LDC sends the team their best wishes, our admiration for your efforts and professionalism remains undiminished.

By Mark Beaumont and Rob Pendleton

Week one of the record attempt has not been without some success…rowing 701 miles and staying ahead of World Record time being top of this list…but sea sickness, fatigue, bruising and blisters…and a distinct lack of trade wind support has put the crew of Sara G under extreme pressure.

Starting their row from Tarfaya at 1pm on the 2nd January despite a last minute customs hitch the crew were out of the traps pretty quick completing over 100 miles in their first day. Thereafter progress was hindered by difficult seas and a lack of wind support.

A number of the team suffered from sea sickness which hampered their ability to eat and sleep (and row effectively). Each team member will use up to 12,000 calories every 24 hours but with the crew unable to eat more than 2,000 calories a day during the first few days this placed a strain on the team’s strength. Whilst the ‘getting your sea legs’ aspect was expected the severity of the first few days was not!

The team have now settled into their 2 hours on 2 hours off routine with the sessions during the night proving to be the most difficult psychologically. Rowing in the dark with your back to the direction of the boat and not being able to fully see the direction of the waves has been pretty disconcerting for the crew.

Simon, Aodhan and Matt

The Atlantic Odyssey challenge has already attracted the attention of a large following not least of which because they have been able to send back regular voice blogs (courtesy of iPadio), and take part in a number of phone-ins (particularly with Heart FM Breakfast show – as they are undertaking the row in support of Heart’s Childline appeal), and Mark continues to blog for the The Independent Online.

The description of the first few days was summed up by crew member Ian Rowe who described tjhe journey thus far: “Think of a washing machine, place a boat in it and turn it on, then bash your legs and knees with a baseball bat…now you have some idea of what it has been like!”

The journey is compelling and can be followed at www.atlantic-odyssey.comand via their http://twitter.com/AtlanticOdyssey. Please send messages of support to them via their Get In touch section and any donations to Childline would be most welcome.

By Mark Beaumont and Rob Pendleton

L-R: Matt, Aodhan, Simon, Yaacov, Ian, Mark

At 1pm on the 2nd January the Atlantic Odyssey crew set off on their East – West Atlantic row record attempt from Tarfaya in Morocco to Barbados.

They are attempting to row across the 3,000 miles of ocean in less than 30 days!

The team of Matt Craughwell (skipper), Mark Beaumont, Ian Rowe, Simon Brown, Yaacov Mutnikas and Aodhan Kelly play to row 100 nautical miles a day, via a strict regime of 2 hours on and 2 hours off the oars. Clearly this is not for the faint hearted and one that will test the mental and physical reserves of all those involved.

To put this all in perspective, the first ocean row was undertaken by two Norwegians, Frank Samuelsen and George Harbo, who rowed an open wooden boat from New York to France in 1896, but it would be another seventy years before the next ocean row in 1966, when John Ridgeway and Sir Chay Blythe succeeded in rowing from Newfoundland to Ireland.

And amazingly up until 1988, only 19 people had ever rowed an ocean.  Now, there have been over 500 but strangely 321 of these have been Britons – so it seems that the adage ‘mad dogs and Englishmen’ applies to the whole of our island!  For 500 people to have rowed an ocean sounds quite a lot, until you consider that over 3000 people have stood on the top of Mount Everest!

Sara G in Agadir

The first ocean rows were undertaken without any modern technologies and communications.  They had to carry all the water they needed for their entire journeys and were truly tenacious and pioneering voyages.  Gerard d’Aboville (1896-1982), who rowed the Atlantic, once said about these early crossings, ‘We were like test pilots, but without a parachute.’

The crew on this record attempt will be rowing in ‘Sara G’ an 11 metre boat, and the vessel in which the current world record was set.

The crew for his present challenge were selected from nine rounds of sea trials that began in April 2011. Their attempt will be fuelled by each crew member consuming between 5000 and 6000 calories every day, while expending somewhere close to 12,000 calories a day.

The team’s website said of the challenge: “Of the countless teams that have taken to the Atlantic trying to set the fastest time ever, the sub-30 day barrier has so far remained elusive. The first team to break this barrier will achieve, what has seemed for many involved, the unassailable mark in the sport’s history. We have a huge range of experience in the boat and come from many different backgrounds, but the stand-out fact for each member is their rowing history.”

Over the course of the journey the crew will be sending back regular blogs and pictures, and Mark will be writing exclusively for The Independent.  In addition the crew will be able to send back brief voice messages through iPadio. To hear Matt’s departure messages click here:

Atlantic Odyssey Channel – 5th phonecast http://ipad.io/niV

Full details about the attempt can be tracked via www.Atlantic-odyssey.com and their dedicated twitter feed http://twitter.com/AtlanticOdyssey

By Mark Beaumont (Adventurer, author, expedition cameraman, speaker) 

On New Year’s Eve, as you toast the start of 2012, spare a thought for a small boat and six men setting out across the Atlantic Ocean!  Once again, I am embarking on a journey that’s very viability is doubted by many. We aim to be the first to row across the Atlantic in less than a month. And once again, LDC are a part of the team.

LDC shares my level of ambition and enterprise – they have backed my expeditions over the past five years and it has been great sharing the trials and ultimate successes. Expeditions and documentary making are a very different world to private equity, but we share the same ambition in making big ideas happen.

You can follow our teams progress over the 3,000 miles from Morocco to Barbados through www.atlantic-odyssey.com from where you can see the progress map, hear our audio updates and read my blogs for the Independent.  You can also follow the whole campaign on twitter @AtlanticOdyssey or on Facebook at ‘AtlanticOdyssey‘.

The bare facts are that we will be rowing in 2 teams of 3, on 2 hour continuous shifts – so we will be sleeping for less than 2 hours at any time and will each be rowing 12 hours a day.  During the month’s crossing we expect to lose between two and three stones of weight each – it’s impossible to replenish all the energy we will use.  We are unsupported and will be relying on daily weather reports to find the strongest patches of trade winds to ensure the fastest crossing.  We have a fast boat and an experienced crew, but to break the 30 day barrier for the first time relies on the weather playing its part!

Enjoy following the campaign over the coming months and here’s hoping we have reason for a big welcome home, ‘World Record’ holder’s party in February (we hope!), which you will be welcome to.

Note: The full story can be followed at www.atlantic-odyssey.com or via twitter on @AtlanticOdyssey (hashtag #Atlantic3000); and Mark’s personal online feed is via twitter: @MrMarkBeaumont and on his web site http://www.markbeaumontonline.com/