07 Dec 2011
First finish and first capsize in Atlantic Rowing Race
The first boat from the Atlantic Rowing Race 2005 has arrived in Antigua, the West Indies. All Relative, the crew of four from Great Britain, finished the 4,727 kilometre race in just 39 days and over 1,200 kilometres ahead of their nearest rival.
All Relative includes brothers, Justin and Robert Adkin and their cousins Martin Adkin and James Green and as well as finishing first Martin Adkin, 19, becomes the youngest person to row across the Atlantic Ocean.
Crew Member, Justin Adkin commented in the Woodvale events press release;
?We are all so totally overwhelmed with the whole experience and seeing so many of our family and friends who have travelled out to see us arrive today is an amazing feeling. We are so pleased to have done this well in the race but the last week has been really difficult with the adverse weather conditions and our thoughts now go out to the remaining 25 teams still at sea.?
?Stepping off the boat was just the strangest feeling, like being drunk without the alcohol. It seems that we now feel more comfortable on the boat than we do on dry land.?
But back out on the Atlantic Ocean and on the same day as All Relative’s finish, rowing Olympian from Ireland Gearoid Towey and partner Ciaran Lewis have capsized after their rudder cleat broke. Towey and Lewis’s emergency signal was noticed by a nearby Spanish tanker. The tanker found the duo safe in their life raft. The US Coast Guard has reported that the crew are well. Towey and Lewis were over 2,500 km into the race.
Meanwhile double Olympic rowing gold medallist James Cracknell and partner Ben Fogle of Great Britain remain in the lead of the doubles boats with less than 1,400 km left to row. Spurred on by the announcement of All Relative’s finish Cracknell and Fogle managed to cover an impressive 155 km in one day.
Finishing in 39 days makes All Relative one day faster than the previous race record set by a double in 2003 and is just three days shy of the fours route record. This achievement is remarkable considering the race has passed through two tropical storms and the tail end of a hurricane.
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