Ocean rowing success for Cracknell

Cracknell and Fogle before 49 days at sea

Forty-nine days of rowing ended in a sprint finish for Great Britain Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell and partner Ben Fogle in the Atlantic Rowing Race. The duo raced for second against four person crew, Atlantic Four. But despite a three nautical mile lead, Cracknell and Fogle, in their pairs boat Spirit of EDF Energy, could not hold off the four who upped the intensity in the last few hours of the race.

Finishing in 49 days and 19 hours, Cracknell and Fogle are the first pairs boat to complete the 4,800km race and third overall. The race started at the end of November 2005 in La Gomera, Canary Islands with 26 boats, 20 of them pairs, four fours and two solos.

Press officer for organisers, Woodvale Events, Teresa Page commented, ?Having battled against three low pressure systems, two tropical storms and the tail end of a hurricane, the weather conditions during this, the fourth edition of the Atlantic Rowing Race event, have been less than favourable causing all sorts of problems for the racing fleet.  When Ben and James crossed the finish line their remaining rowing seat only just held out and the tolls of the last 49 days at sea could clearly been seen of their faces.?

This has been one of the hardest of the four Atlantic rowing races and so far four boats have had to withdraw after capsizing or suffering unrepairable damage. One of these boats was the Irish crew of rowing Olympian Gearoid Towey and partner Ciaran Lewis.

Due to arrive next in Antigua, West Indies is pairs boat Team C2 rowed by former British national team members Chris Andrews and Clint Evans. Relying on 30 years of rowing training and regular racing at the world masters level, Andrews and Evans, both 44, used two hour ergometer sessions to get into the habit of the two hour rowing shifts that have become the norm in this race.

Throughout the race Cracknell and Fogle have kept a keen eye on Team C2’s progress as Andrews and Evans held the greatest threat to their pairs lead. Team C2’s land team manager Helena Smalman-Smith commented; ?We sent them (Cracknell and Fogle) a light-hearted message on Christmas Day saying, ?Christmas is a time of good will to all men – please remember that this includes old ones.’ This was relayed to them by James’ Dad, who told us that James replied, ?But they’re BIG old boys.’?

Cracknell will now make a decision on whether he aims to come back to the 2,000 metre flat water style of rowing and try for Olympic gold medal three at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Related Links
First to finish and first to capsize
Ocean race passes half way
Cracknell joins Towey in Atlantic race

For more information go to: http://www.atlanticrowingrace.co.uk

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