News

RACE UPDATE 09.00 June 07

AFTER yesterday’s drama at sea – rescued by a lifeboat following a total electrics failure – Pure Gym are back in GBRow 2013.

Under the rules, this race for a world record is non-stop and unassisted but Pure Gym have been allowed to continue as a ‘supported’ attempt, which means that although they are still taking part, they can’t share the prize money.

Stuart Chamberlayne, 23, – the strongest rower on Team Hallin, who were forced to quit the race yesterday – has joined the team aboard Pure Gym.

This morning at just 08.00 skipper Claire Shouksmith and her crew bid farewell to the people of Salcombe who came to their rescue yesterday and set off for Land’s End.

They could expect a challenge en route from Josh Tarr and Jason McKinlay in Savoir Faire, the only pair left in the race, who are currently in third place in GBRow 2013.

Jason and Josh anchored just off their home port of Salcombe last night before they, too, set course for Land’s End this morning.

Early next week the wind direction changes to south/south westerly so the two crews still off the southern coast of Cornwall have to reach Land’s End before the shift.

Meanwhile under clear skies and sunshine in the Celtic Sea the battle for the lead remains as hot as ever with The Islanders maintaining a slender lead of 9.5 nautical miles over Oarsome Adventures

Although The Islanders were making slightly better headway, both crews should reach the Irish Sea this afternoon.

It’s going to be quite a race…

The battle for the lead in GBRow 2013 continued relentlessly throughout the night as Oarsome Adventures chased down leader The Islanders in the Celtic Sea.

Oarsome, rowed by a crew of six, including five Celtic longboat racers, is at home in these rough waters off the west coast of Britain.

A couple of hours ago, they cut the Islanders’ lead to just five miles but in the last hour, the Islanders have increased their pace and drew just miles ahead of the chasers.

The Islanders – John Taylor, Alan Morgan, Jason Plumley and Gavin Sheehan – are propelling their 24-feet-long boat, the Black Oyster, along at 2.7 nautical miles an hour.

In Boudica, skipper Mikey Buckley’s crew – Heather Rees-Gaunt, Karl Steans, Ian Kavanagh, Sam Clemmens and 20-year-old Beatrix Parry – were slower at 1.7 knots – nautical miles an hour.

The gap could widen this morning as the race heads into the Bristol Channel. Will the Islanders head towards the Irish coast? Will Oarsome Adventures veer towards their home waters off Wales?

In a couple of hours the race will re-ignite off Devon’s South coast when Pure Gym, who were rescued yesterday after electrics failure re-join the race. Under GBRow 2013 rules they can continue but will not be included in the prizes.

Third placed pair of Jason McKinlay and Josh Tarr will leave their anchorage at Salcombe and race Pure Gym towards Land’s End. Keep watching that tracker folks as Day 6 unfolds in the world’s toughest rowing race…

Billed as the world’s toughest rowing race, GBRow 2013 lived up to its reputation when three boats – half of the field – were forced to quit in a spell of just 12 hours today.

At 2am, the Coast Girls – Charlene Ayres and Sally Kettle – were towed by the RNLI to Ramsgate harbour in Kent after both their anchors dragged on the sandly bottom.

There was a danger they could be swept on the breakers just 300 yards away. Charlene, from Cardiff, who suffered from sea sickness for more than three days was treated for dehydration at hospital in Ramsgate. She was released from hospital later this morning. After breakfast she and Sally booked into a local hotel to sleep after their ordeal.

 At 10am Brixham Coastguard scrambled Salcombe RNLI lifeboat crew to go the assistance of Pure Gym’s crew, who were adrift a mile off Start Point in Devon in force six winds. The boat’s electrical system, which controls navigation instruments, communications and the water maker, totally failed. The crew of two men and two women battled for 12 hours to repair the fault but when strong force six easterly winds threatened to blow th boat onto the rocks at Start Point, skipper Claire Shouksmith called for assistance, using the boat’s Sat phone.

Then at 2pm Team Hallin’s skipper, Falklands veteran, former Royal Navy Commander David Hosking, called in help from a motor boat from Penzance after their ocean-going rowing boat Hallin Marine II suffered irreparable damage to the steering system.

Without a rudder, the crew risked drifting into shipping lanes or the rocks beneath the cliffs at Land’s End.

Chris Usborne, Race Director, said: “With three boats retiring today, GBRow has had a very bad day, however everyone is safe and safety is paramount to this race.”

In the race itself, The Islanders remain in front but Oarsome Adventures are chasing them down in the Celtic Sea, off Cornwall.

The Islanders in Black Oyster are 30 miles out to sea from Padstowe, with Oarsome Adventures just 11 miles behind them.

Blog from David Hosking, skipper of Team Hallin, written just before this morning’s drama at Land’s End. His report reveals what the rowers are missing back home during their weeks at sea chasing the World Record of 26 days 21 hours 14 minutes.

<<<<<<<<RACE REPORT DAY 5 5/6/13: Today we’re looking forward to go round Land’s end, the most south-westerly point on our trip. Neil is thinking of his baby girl, Elsa, as he has just received the news she has just learnt to crawl, a good motivation to go as fast as possible to get back as soon to see her. The first five days are some of the hardest, getting used to the conditions and the brutal sleep pattern.  We’re looking forward to the second week, where we will be into the rhythm and our muscles have got used to the non-stop rowing! Keep up the support for the charity Combat Stress!>>>>>>>

THE Coast Girls have been forced to quit GBRow 2013 – the world’s toughest rowing race.

For nearly five days, Sally Kettle and Charlene Ayres in their rowing boat Pendovey Swift, battled against head winds in the Thames estuary – 100 miles from the start of this 2,000-mile race.

After finally making it round the corner into the Dover Strait, they dropped two anchors, four miles north of Ramsgate. But as night fell and the easterly wind picked up, the anchors dragged on the sandy sea bottom.

Weakened by three days of sea sickness, Charlene found it difficult to row after five and they faced being blown onto the shore – just 300 yards away.

Sally was in constant contact with the Coastguard and in the early hours of the morning, she took the decision that they needed a tow from the RNLI lifeboat into the safety of Ramsgate harbour. Charlene has been taken to hospital for routine check ups.

In a tearful call to Race Director Chris Usborne, Sally, who has rowed the Atlantic twice said: “It was all very controlled. We did everything we would but in the end there was nothing we could do but call the Coastguard for assistance.

“It’s with great sadness that we have been forced to withdraw from the race.”

Will de Laszlo, president of GBRow2013 – who set the world record for rowing non-stop around Britain in 2005 – said: “It’s a great shame.”

Three hundred miles away, The Islanders have opened up a 15-mile lead over nearest rivals, Hallin Marine II.

The Islanders are now heading up the Cornish coast towards the Bristol Channel and Team Hallin Marine passed Land’s End a mile from shore – and appear to have turned back towards Mount’s Bay.

Oarsome Adventures, a crew of six from West Wales, skippered by Mikey Buckley had made up time on Team Hallin and now just 8 miles behind the second-place crew.

Pure Gym, skippered by Claire Shouksmith, are almost at Start Point near Plymouth and the only remaining pair in the race, Jason McKinlay and Josh Tarr, in Savoir Faire are 25 miles from their home port of Salcombe in Devon.

 

 

As night falls, the Coast Girls are dragging both anchors, just 300 yards off the Kent coast.

With Charlene Ayres still suffering from sea sickness, her rowing partner Sally Kettle is currently trying to re-set the anchors to prevent their boat Pendovey Swift being swept onto the shore north of Ramsgate. The anchors are failing to take a hold on the sandy sea bottom.

 Three hundred miles away, at the Lizard in Cornwall, Team Hallin, in second place, fear they may have missed the tide window to get to Land’s End during the night, Race Director Chris Usborne reports tonight from Penzance.

 Their boat, Hallin Marine II, skippered by David Hosking is 17 miles from the most southerly point in Britain.

 Race leaders The Islanders caught the tide just right and as the sun sets on day five of GBRow 2013, the team of four young men in their boat, the Black Oyster have five miles to go to Land’s End.

 If  Team Hallin do miss the tide and have to wait until morning before reaching Land’s End, they could be caught by Oarsome Adventures, currently in third place, 13 miles behind Team Hallin.

 Keep a weather eye on the race tracker to find out how the drama plays out in the short mid-summer night…