Ocean rowers aiming to set new record on round-Britain trip
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Two experienced ocean rowers are aiming to set a record after embarking on an unsupported circumnavigation of mainland Britain in aid of two charities.
Duncan Roy and Gus Barton are making their way up Scotland's west coast at the moment and were approaching Gigha this morning. Their schedule is dependent on weather and tides but they hope to be off Sutherland and Caithness over the course of a few days in the middle of this month.
They are raising money for Sport in Mind and NHS Charities Together and are providing updates through daily blogs, videos and photos.
Their journey can be tracked on www.rowingroy.com
Duncan and Gus decided to tackle the round-Britain challenge after the cancellation of this summer's Great Pacific Race from San Francisco to Hawaii.
The pair are looking to travel 2000km at a rate of 1200 strokes an hour, adding up to 18 hours of rowing each day.
They set off on June 14 from Essex and their target is to complete the clockwise journey within 35 to 40 days. The record to beat is 41 days.
Duncan is a former Royal Engineer who discovered rowing through rehabilitation from a career-ending injury. Indoor rowing led to river rowing and ocean rowing.
Duncan has rowed the Atlantic Ocean twice and has since passed on his knowledge to a number of ocean-rowing teams.
After injury brought an end to Gus’s professional rugby career, he set up a trainer studio specialising in endurance challenge preparation and elite personal training. In 2015, as part of Team Ocean Reunion, he won the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge – breaking the then race record of 37 days.
He has run many ultra-marathons as well as training and coaching 30 ocean-rowing teams.
In order to beat the record they have to be 100 per cent self-sustaining.
It took just 10 days for the duo to charter an ocean-rowing boat, find sponsorship, source ration packs, plot their route, refine their training plans and gather all the loose equipment needed, as well as checking the government guidelines to ensure the challenge could go ahead safely.
Apart from the vagaries of wind and tide, the difficulties they face range from navigating busy shipping lanes to suffering sleep deprivation. There is also the risk of navigation system failure or water-maker breakdown, as they have to create their own drinking water.
