GB Row Challenge - Guinness Book of World Records

Latest News About GB Challenge Press Articles Launch Day The Route The Team The Boat Training HMS Illustrious Schedule Charities Donate Friends of the Challenge Sponsors Contact

Round Britain rowers reach halfway
21 June 2005

FOUR intrepid rowers attempting a world record for rowing non-stop 2,000 miles around the British mainland have reached the halfway point. The GB Row Challenge team passed under the Isle of Skye road bridge at 9 o’clock this morning, which means they have now rowed 1,000 miles in their tiny 23-feet-long boat since leaving London’s Tower Bridge two weeks ago today. The team of three Grenadier Guardsmen and a civilian – who aim to raise £1million for charity – expect to pass John O’Groats on Thursday.

Despite being hit by force eight winds and mountainous seas in the Irish Sea last week, they have managed to average 70miles a day – 20 miles a day more than planned.

But the crew of the boat, Outward Bound, now face a new problem – a WATER shortage.

For the last ten days, the skies have been overcast which means that solar panels used to power their on-board desalination unit have not been able to generate enough electricity.

The crew rely on the desalination unit to turn seawater into drinking water for the expedition, which is likely to last another two weeks given fair weather.

Non-stop circumnavigation of Great Britain in a rowing boat has never been attempted before. Because of Britain's treacherous tides and crowded shipping lanes, this is one of the most dangerous journeys ever to be made in a rowing boat.

	Team skipper Will de Laszlo, 26, said: “We’re delighted to be halfway after just two weeks. Our main concern now is a lack of drinking water. We’ve been forced to ration water to conserve stocks. “We need two hours of sunshine to create enough solar power to drive the pumps which work the desalination unit. For the last ten days the skies have been grey and we haven’t had enough sunlight. We are now praying for sunshine. Under the terms if the World Record attempt, we are not allowed any help and that includes taking on water. Unfortunately the forecast of the next three days is for overcast days with showers.” The team – Lt de Laszlo, 26, Lt Ben Jesty, 25, both from London, Sgt James Bastin, 35, from Dursely, Gloucestershire and company director Will Turnage, 25, from Lymington, Hants, – are rowing in pairs 24-hours a day.

The pair not rowing spend their time in tiny cabins at either end of the boat. The crew are carrying over a ton of food with them for the journey.

Last Friday, in the Irish Sea the crew of the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious passed by the rowers in their boat Outward Bound and cheered them on.

The crew of Illustrious also handed the rowers a bottle of champagne to crack open once they cross the finishing line at Tower Bridge next month.

Lt Jesty, a former history student at Edinburgh University, said: “It ‘s fantastic to be back in Scotland. We’re hoping lots of people will turn out at the Skye Bridge to wave us on our way.”

Sgt Bastin, who had never rowed in a boat before the expedition, said: “It was amazing to be rowing in waves of up to fifty feet high. It was as if the Gods were testing us to see if we were worthy if the record.”

Their position is being up-dated every few hours on the expedition website, www.gbrowchallenge.com, so anyone wanting to follow them can plot their position.

You can also make a donation to their two chosen charities, The Outward Bound Trust and the Bud Flanagan Fund for leukaemia research by clicking here.

If the crew manage to complete the 2,110-mile non-stop unassisted journey they will earn a Guinness World Record.

When Prince Philip, patron of The Outward Bound Trust met the rowers recently he joked: "You're all bl**dy mad!" Lieutenant de Laszlo came up with the idea after being asked to row across the Atlantic but decided instead to attempt a feat that had never been done before. Former round-the-world yachtswoman, Clare Francis, who has been following the crew’s progress closely, said: “They are doing fantastically well in very trying conditions.”