News
Day 53 (Thu 25 Feb 1330 - Fri 26 Feb 1330)
Crews have had mixed fortunes over the last 24 hours, with crews at the front of the fleet currently enduring the brunt of the bad weather, while crews at the back have continued to progress forward. This has meant that for the first time in the race, the second half of the fleet have completed the same number of miles as the first half, so crews maintained their relative distances apart.
The fleet were able to move just 140nm towards Antigua, just 5nm per crew and all crews are now affected by the adverse conditions.
The biggest news at the conclusion of day 53 was that Charlie Pitcher crossed the finish line to win the Atlantic Rowing Race 2009. For more information see the press release – Charlie Pitcher wins Atlantic Rowing Race 2009.
The second significant event for Friday 26th February was the celebration of Neil Gyllenship’s birthday onboard Spirit of MA. Neil and Dean have so far rowed a pretty steady race maintaining both their mileage and their position. For over four weeks they have occupied 16th position in the pair’s class, and in the last 2 weeks moved up a place to 20th in the fleet, having overtaken Dave Brooks in his boat Team Panasonic.
The crew of Explore have struggled over the last couple of weeks, having lost several places in the table. As such they will be looking to make up for lost time as soon as the weather clears to move back up the table and back on track for a women’s GB record.