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In December 2011, two able-bodied and four injured British servicememembers will take on the high seas in a rowing boat. They will cross the Atlantic from the coast of Africa to Barbados, a journey of about 3,000 miles.

Of the 452 rowing boat crews to ever attempt this Atlantic crossing, only 284 have succeeded. They took 40 to 120 days.

The team will row self-supported, and have to alternate between long hours of on deck rowing, and brief two hour off-watch rest spells in the cabin. The tropical climactic conditions can be unpredictable and the crew must be ready for anything from torrential rain to gale force winds and blistering, windless sunshine, as well as cold nights.

Routine is critical in tackling one of the greatest challenges: psychological exhaustion. Finding the dogged determination to continue under extreme physical pain, sleep deprivation and severe weight loss can be difficult.

These are the kind of conditions facing British servicemen and women every day in intense combat zones in Afghanistan and Iraq.British servicemen and women will endure six, twelve, or even eighteen months of these constant challenges. The Row2Recovery team will endure eight weeks.

www.row2recovery.com

Watch the ITV report

See the video of Prince Harry Calling the boat

We will be exhibiting at 2010 South Coast Championships at Wimbleball on Saturday 11th September.
We are also sponsoring the Novices’ Rating – do come and find us and we look forward to seeing you there!

“We’re delighted that Xcell Oars & Sculls are sponsoring the Novice Racing programme at Wimbleball this year as well as exhibiting at the Championships. Appropriately, they are a British company established 7 years ago and are growing rapidly with their sister company, the renowned J Sutton Traditional Oar & Scull makers.  Xcell are demonstrating their commitment to coastal rowing at Wimbleball and have just launched their X 7 Coastal.  Demo samples will be on display at the Championships. Xcell designs their own looms and spoons, owns all their own tooling and uses only reputable British suppliers for major components, including buttons and collars. We wish Xcell every success and look forward to a long and positive relationship with them through our Clubs, our three Associations and the annual Championships”.  Andrea Worley, Vice Chairman of Wimbleball Rowing Club.

The Artemis Ocean Rowing Team, who used Xcell X3 Ocean Oars for a North Atlantic Expedition and broke the 114 year old record:

“We used Xcell blades on our North Atlantic Expedition and they were first rate. We were hammered by the weather and the oars came under some extreme loads and not one was broken. The performance of the blades is outstanding and the collars allow easy feathering when required. I have rowed on four ocean rowing expeditions now and rowed over 12,000 sea miles in all conditions and I won’t leave port without my Xcell X3s they are an extremely well thought out and well engineered product – second to none.”   Leven Brown, Artemis Ocean Rowing Team.

Artemis Ocean Rowing

Fox, the 1896 boat

Crew: Two Norwegian fishermen

Length: 18ft

Construction: Oak

Weight: 250lbs

Cooking: Small kerosene stove

Safety: Rails to help right in event of capsize, two watertight wooden flotation compartments

Navigation: Compass, sextant and copy of Nautical Almanac

Clothes: The crew wore oilskins and shared one pair of mittens

Artemis, the 2010 boat

Crew: Two Scots, one Irishman, one Faroese

Length: 23ft

Construction: Fibreglass Kevlar sandwich

Weight: 660lbs

Cooking: A super-efficient, powerful camping stove

Safety: Watertight flotation compartments, low centre of gravity for self-righting

Navigation: Charts, GPS, plastic sextant and VHF radio

Clothes: Oil skins, small gloves and thermal tops and bottoms

Belinda Kirk and the Sea Gals  were the first all-women crew to row unaided around the coast of Britain in just 51 days and made their way into the Guinness Book of Records, winning the £15,000 put up by Richard Branson:

“Despite near miss collisions, strong winds and rough seas we rowed around Britain with watches of two pairs.  Our Xcell X3s performed outstandingly, and were customised for our physical size.  At times it was pretty tough going, yet we always seemed to be making headway and getting closer to the finish at Tower Bridge.” Belinda Kirk, Skipper and Expedition Manager of the Sea Gals.

Sea Gals

Charlie Pitcher made history to become the first solo competitor to win a multi class ocean rowing race, at the same time smashing the solo record on 26th February 2010

“I was using Xcell X3s from their specialist Ocean Rowing range, which were matched to my physique and rowing style.  The oars are extremely well designed and gave me that little extra edge throughout.  Although I carried a spare set of oars, just in case, they were surplus and I cannot thank the team at Xcell enough for all their support and help in the build up to the Atlantic Race.  As a single-handed rower, it was quite daunting and I was absolutely delighted to get line honours, ahead of the crewed teams.  Thanks Xcell.” Charlie Pitcher, winner Atlantic Rowing Race 2009/10.

Charlie practicing for his solo trans Atlantic rowing race by rowing

Cath Allaway  - Ocean  Rower Atlantic 2007/08

“As a competitive rower, I understood  how valuable the correct style blades would be to row an ocean.   Everything had to be right: wooden handles, correct blade length, shaft  width, spoon shape, and overall weight.  Xcell are the only company, for  me, who ticked all the boxes.  Mid ocean is not where you want to realise that you’ve chosen the wrong blades.”  Cath Allaway, Atlantic Ocean Rower.