Solo ocean rower success

Quincey, 25, rowed approximately 4000km across the Tasman Sea from Australia to New Zealand becoming the first solo rower to do this. Quincey was following in the footsteps of his father, Colin, who rowed in the opposite direction 33 years ago.

Weather conditions were not kind to Quincey. The journey was just 2200km, but took Quincey about 4000km. He endured a brutal storm which caused the boat to roll over, he broke two oars and his water purifier broke down leaving him short of fresh water. This meant that part way through the voyage a plane provided a water drop. Then, just as he was nearing the North Island of New Zealand, a northerly current meant he had to fight not to miss land completely.

Quincey ended up swimming the last 300m of the voyage with his 7.3m boat making it through the three metre high surf virtually undamaged, landing nearby on the beach.

The voyage took Quincey 53 days compared to his father who did it in 63 days. Father and son Quincey are now the only successful solo crossings of the Tasman Sea. All other attempts have failed including a kayaker who died attempting it in 2007.

Meanwhile, across the globe, American Katie Spotz, 22, has completed her solo Trans-Atlantic Ocean row. This makes Spotz the youngest person to row solo across the Atlantic.  

Spotz had her fair share of high sea adventure but her biggest struggle came when she was planning how to get ashore in South America. She added about 600km (roughly eight days) to her journey to ensure a better chance of reaching the continent unassisted. This meant aiming for Georgetown, Guyana, instead of Cayenne, French Guiana.

The row, which began in Dakar, Senegal, took Spotz 70 days. This was sizeably less than Spotz had planned as she had food supplies to last up to 110 days. Favourable trade currents and no major technical problems helped in the goal.

Using a 5.8 metre boat specially designed to hold up to hurricanes and 15 metre waves, Spotz would spend 8 to 10 hours a day rowing. 

Spotz used the crossing to highlight safe drinking water projects around the world, especially the Blue Planet Run Foundation.