The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge which bills itself as “The World’s Roughest Rowing Race” is living up to its name. As we posted previously, seventeen boats set off December 4th to row across the Atlantic from Spain’s San Sebastian de la Gomera in the Canary Islands, following the ‘Columbus Route’ westbound to Port St Charles in Barbados. That number has now fallen to 12 boats as five have withdrawn from the race. The two most recent, H2Row and Boogie Woogie retired over the weekend.
The most dramatic moment in the race thus far came last week when Team Tom’s boat PS Vita sank from under them after being struck by a 30 foot wave. The rowers were rescued by the cruise ship Crystal Serenity which changed course to pick up the rowers who spent 10 hours in a life raft. The Corinthian Team, a four man boat now in fifth place, also encountered 30 foot swells but successfully weathered them. The leader in the race is currently Andrew Brown, a single rower in the boat JJ. Box Number 8 and Row to Recovery are in second and third places respectively.