Ocean Rowing - Atlantic Crossings

Atlantic Crossings

Amyr Klink was the first person to row across the South Atlantic, leaving from Lüderitz, Namibia on 10 June 1984 and arriving 100 days later in Salvador, Brazil on 18 September 1984.

On 3 December 1999 Tori Murden of the USA became the first woman to row any ocean solo when she arrived in Guadeloupe, having set off from Tenerife in the Canary Islands 81 days earlier. In March 2006 Julie Wafaei of Canada became the first woman to row across the Atlantic from mainland to mainland.

On 10 July 2005 the Vivaldi Atlantic four-man team (Nigel Morris, George Rock, Steve Dawson, Rob Munslow) set the record for fastest unsupported row from St John's, Newfoundland to the longitude of Bishop Rock lighthouse, UK. They left on 31 May 2005, arriving back on 10 July 2005 in a time of 39 days 22 hours and 10 minutes. The Vivaldi Atlantic four also became the first four-man team ever to row the North Atlantic west to east. This record still stands as the fastest unsupported row across this 1850 nm North Atlantic Route.

The fastest unsupported row from the US to England was set in 2005 by The Ocean Fours (NL) (Gijs Groeneveld, Robert Hoeve, Jaap Koomen, Maarten Staarink) with the Vopak Victory. They left New York on 27 May and crossed the Bishops Rock longitude 60 days, 16 hours and 19 minutes later. This record was beaten by Leven Brown and his crew in 2010. Their boat 'Artemis Investments' left New York on 17 June 2010 and arrived in St Mary's on the 31st of July 2010 in a time of 43 days 21 hours 26 mins and 48 seconds. Which remains the record to date for the longer 2850 nm and original North Atlantic route. During their voyage they were capsized twice in storms. French Explorer and Sport-Adventurer Charles Hedrich set the record for the fastest solo Atlantic crossing in 2007, from Dakar to Brazil in 36 days and 6 hours.

The World Record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to the West Indies was set in 2011 by 'Team Hallin', a crew of six aboard the trimaran 'Hallin Marine', with a crossing time of 31 days 23 hours 31 minutes. The World Record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean from Morocco to the West Indies was also set in 2011 by a six man crew aboard 'Sara G', with a crossing time of 33 days 21 hours and 46 minutes. The crew of Sara G posted the record for the most days rowed of 100 miles per day consecutively, now standing at 12 days.

La Mondiale set the original record in 1992. After much work and refurbishment this beautiful old boat was ready to go to sea again in 2008/9 and race two state the of art modern lightweight boats both of which optionally sported smaller crews but were specifically designed to beat La Mondiale. An 'informal' race took place from the Canaries to the West Indies that saw storms and tactical guile. La Mondiale, despite her age, crossed the finish line first some three days ahead of the nearest rival. She was skippered by Leven Brown. La Mondiale was subsequently lost at sea in 2009 due to the loss of her rudder, all hands were safe, but one of the sport's most historic boats was 'retired' by the ocean, proudly unbeaten.

On June 14, 2007, Bhavik Gandhi became the first Asian to row the Atlantic solo, non-stop and unsupported from Spain to Antigua. The trip, lasting 106 days, also created a record for the longest solo row across the Atlantic Ocean.

In 2010, Katie Spotz rowed solo mainland-to-mainland Dakar, Senegal–Georgetown, Guyana, 2,817 nautical miles (5,217 km) in only 70 days. She is the youngest solo rower so far.

On the 9th of July 2012 Charles Hedrich set off from north america to become the first man to row non-stop solo across the Atantic and back. He will turn at the Canary Islands and head back across the Atlantic to south America,whitch he hopes to reach by November 2012.