7.1.�016 – �0.1.�016 ISLAND CONNECTIONS 76� 11CANARY ISLANDS

and Matt Goodman from new zealand. Thirty-six pairs of twelve nationalities left Tenerife for Barbados. Thirty-three made it.

a change of name to the Wood-vale atlantic rowing race in 2003 didn’t deter the Kiwis: nz boat Holiday shoppe Chal-lenge won, rowed by James Fitzgerald and Kevin Biggar. That was the first departure from La Gomera.Two years later, Woodvale atlantic rowing race 2005 also left La Gomera, fea-turing fours’ and twos’ row-ing teams, and solo rowers. Twenty-six boats left san sebastián after being delayed by Tropical storm delta. The year of 2005’s extended hur-ricane season haunts rowers. There were strong westerly winds from Hurricane epsi-lon, instead of normal Trade Winds, and crews needed sea anchors to prevent drifting back. Then Tropical storm zeta caused high seas and adverse wind conditions. The GB boat all relative, crewed by Justin, robert and Martin adkin and

James Green, finished first. BBC’s Through Hell and High Water, shown February 2006, was about the race.The 2007 challange left La Gomera in early december, heading for english Harbour, antigua. Two singles, fifteen pairs and five fours started the race, with a six-crew boat starting later. ‘Pura Vida’ fin-ished first in forty-eight days, crewed by Brits John Cecil-Wright, robbie Grant, Tom Har-vey and Carl Theakston. seven-teen-year-old rachel Flanders became the youngest person to row an ocean, in ‘silver Cloud’ that year.The 2009 race followed the same course. Teams included twenty pairs, seven solos, and three fours, and were from the uK, denmark, France, Ireland, south africa and the usa. Charlie Pitcher (GB), in ‘JJ’ became the first solo rower to win.

The next, in 2011, left san sebastián on december 4, and the first of seventeen teams to arrive on the other side of the atlantic, after forty days, was ‘Team Box number 8’ with row-ers Toby Iles and nick Moore. In december 2013, sixteen boats and crews of all sizes from solo rowers to fives, from Great Britain, sweden, australia and spain, battled exhaustion and the atlantic.This year’s race finally got under way on december 20, to the relief of teams from six countries who’d been delayed by adverse weather.Fireworks, music and applause accompanied the departures, timed at five minute intervals.Island Connections talked to the ‘row Like a Girl’ team about their upcoming adven-ture in the twenty-six boat con-test, this year involving fifty-nine men and nine women.“More people have travelled in space or climbed everest than rowed the atlantic. It takes a certain kind of person to keep going despite blisters, salt rash, sharks and sleep depri-vation” said their webpage, and these four attractive girls look extremely fit thanks to train-ing hard to build strength to withstand the toughest race on earth.“We’ve spent six months get-ting ready, both in and out of water, and tapped family and

friends’ expertise around boats and boatyards. There was a lot to learn” said Gee Purdy.“Lots could go wrong. anything from arguments to weather and wildlife, but we know each other very well, which helps in our very limited space. There are two support vessels, one ahead and the other behind.“our inspiration came from our skipper, Lauren (Morton).

In the 2013 race she had to pull out after losing the rudder, waiting for a support boat, try-ing to fix a new, incorrect rud-der and spending twenty days without wet wipes”. Wet wipes, I learned, are essential! Their limited storage space on their boat ‘Mrs. nelson’ was stuffed with them.Lauren also suffered a head injury, ending up in Canada after being rescued by a con-

tainer ship. undeterred, she found three more crew, Gee Purdy, olivia Bolesworth and

Bella Collins, to prepare for this year’s race. and as you read this, these brave girls, and the other rowers, are some-where out there, rowing two hours on, two off, round the clock, using their desalinator for drinking water, nourished by dehydrated expedition food, until they reach antigua, hope-fully: “in about forty-two days”. see the girl’s website at: www.rowlikeagirl.uk.

and, remember them as you tuck yourself into bed tonight! n

The route

The four rowers left-right: Bella Collins, Olivia Bolesworth, Gee Purdy and skipper Lauren Morton

Hatch to the only onboard shelter from the elements

Row Like a Girl group trout pout