NEWS
Row2Recovery Atlantic Challenge
The clock is ticking to replenish water supplies for Row2Recovery, the team of injured servicemen rowing the Atlantic.
The crew of injured soldiers onboard Row2Recovery are no strangers to challenging situations. And the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge continues to test their physical and mental endurance to its limits as they wait on supply ship Aurora to deliver much needed drinking water.
On New Year's Day the crew reported that both their mechanical and manual water makers, key pieces of equipment in turning sea water into drinking water, had failed. The team immediately began rationing the 200 litres of water left in their ballast tanks and have pushed on a further 400 miles west since the situation unfolded in an effort to get as close to their final destination of Barbados, which this morning lay 558 miles away.
After carefully managing their water intake, the six man crew this morning had 55 litres of water left on board, with the Aurora some 765 nautical miles away.
The Aurora had initially hoped to reach Row2Recovery today but has been delayed due to two other boats in the race - Patience and Dream It Do It - requiring emergency re-supplies. Those re-supplies have now successfully taken place and Aurora is making best speed directly to Row2Recovery.
The Aurora is now chasing down Row2Recovery and hopes to be with them by January 13 at the latest. By reducing their water intake to just two litres per man, per day, as well as collecting rain water, Row2Recovery's inspirational crew have enough water to last until January 14.
Lieutenant Will Dixon, who lost his left leg below the knee when an IED detonated under his vehicle 10 days before Christmas in 2009, said:
"The desalinator packing up was one of the worst case scenarios for us. "It's definitely not been ideal but we've drawn on our military experience to strictly ration our water intake to enable the re-supply to happen.
"It's been a tough race and a lot of boats have encountered difficulties so Aurora has had her work cut out. But we're confident she'll get to us before we run out of water. If she can't, we have contingencies in place. We remain utterly determined to complete our mission of rowing across the Atlantic and in doing so help inspire our fellow wounded and their families and raise £1million for service charities."
As a secondary precaution, on Saturday morning race organisers started transmitting the situation on to the "Sailing Net" in case there are closer sailing vessels to R2R's position. The "Sailing Net" is a communications forum that operates across the Atlantic. Following advice from the skipper of Aurora and Falmouth Coastguard, it was decided to be a good precaution in case Aurora became further delayed.
Simon Chalk, Race Safety Officer: "Aurora is on the home straight to Row2Recovery and we are focusing our resources on getting her to them quickly. Safety is the number one priority of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge and we look forward to resupplying Row2Recovery so they continue to inspire us all and complete their mission."
PLEASE VISIT WWW.ROW2RECOVERY.COM FOR THE LATEST INTERVIEW WITH CREW MEMBER ALEX MACKENZIE For Row2Recovery media enquiries please contact Sam Peters on sam@row2recovery.com or 07739 466 096 or James Grant on james@row2recovery.com or 07971 868 326
