The Teams

Normal, well balanced 6 foot Englishman full of stupid ideas!
Why am I doing the race? - It's the 1st good idea I've had!

Some people say that life at home must really be tough for me to want to row solo across the Atlantic. Honestly there is no profound reason as to why I do, but I can say this, that personally this would be the ultimate test of physical and mental endurance. My boat is to be named Nyamezela which is an Isixhosa word meaning "to push through tough times".
Antigua is a beautiful island and I have clearly also forgotten the pain. Roll on December!

Because its there!

What has pushed me the most over the last few years to compete in the Atlantic Rowing Race was being told I may never walk again, after I had a major motorcycle accident 2 years ago.
Also for the challenge, excitement and the need to do something different. It’s a great opportunity to raise money for a wonderful charity as well.

I joined Shannon Rowing Club at the age of 14 and from the moment I was pushed off from the slipway and felt the water move underneath a boat I was hooked. From that day on rowing became a huge influence in my life, in fact it probably was my life until I started college and got a job.

I competed at junior and senior national level and won over thirty trophies. Today my kids still drink from a goblet or two that I picked up but, as you can imagine, the trophies are getting more chipped with each wash.

After graduating from university, work and family took over from rowing in my twenties and early thirties. However, as my family grows up they need less of my time. This has allowed me to go back to school and do an MBA and, of course, more time for rowing and coaching.

From the first time I saw a news report about Eamon and Peter Kavanagh's pending Atlantic voyage, I was hooked on the idea of rowing the Atlantic.

I got a taste of the challenge last year, which only gave me more of a desire to do it this year

Roger & Tom are of like minds when it comes to "Why are we doing the race?". Firstly the idea of rowing an ocean became so infectious that the only cure was to go do it. Secondly, after having to retire from the Indian Ocean Race earlier this year we're now even more determined to complete the challenge to row across an ocean. Finally, being able to use such a project to raise funds & awareness for charitable causes provides the opportunity to leave behind a legacy that will endure long after the event itself is over.

Beech Boys Atlantic is a father and son team made up of Norman and James Beech. Norman is the Manager of the University of Birmingham's Raymond Priestley Centre for Outdoor Pursuits and James is in his final year of Sixth Form at Barrow Sixth Form College. We have been on various mini adventures together over the years, but the adventure and challenge of rowing an ocean is certainly raising the bar.

We both helped raise funds for a water pipeline in Senegal a few years ago. A project that friends of ours, Keith and Ally Gibson, who work in Senegal headed up. Having learnt of the impact that pipeline brought to those people we are really pleased to be doing the row to support the work of WaterAid. Water is such a basic need for everyone in the world and something we can easily take foregranted.

We live in Coniston in Cumbria and have worked out that the row will be the equivalent of 600 lengths of Coniston Water. Which psychologically seems a little more manageable than 3000 mil

We are both taking part in the ARR 09 as we have both grown up always wanting to row an ocean - which is strange considering neither of us are rowers! A very good friend of ours, James Downie, has Ataxia (a rare neurological disorder affecting co-ordination) and we're raising money for his charity. James is heavily involved in the project and has designed and maintains our brilliant website. If he wasn't so heavy we'd take him as the cox!

After watching the ‘Go Commando’ boat complete the Atlantic trip, followed by James Cracknell & Ben Fogle we were hooked and decided to give it a go. We know this will be a challenge of a life time and we’re up for it! We are a couple of ordinary Firemen who love our food and do a bit in the gym. None of us have ever rowed before! Mad? Maybe! Our view is you live once so live it! We can’t wait to get stuck in. We are hoping to raise as much money as possible for our chosen charity Claire House and complete an amazing challenge.

We are 2 doctors based in Devon, UK. We are aiming to complete the Atlantic race and then going on to attempt Mt Everest, assuming we survive the Atlantic! We will be raising as much moey as possible for Marie Curie Cancer Care along the way. Neither of us have ever done any rowing before, but that just adds to the challenge!

Why am i doing this......Because Olli dared me! Only joking, well half joking. We’re doing it primarily for the challenge, as we’ve realised more and more over the past 18 months this really is a once in a lifetime opportunity and one that has challenged us in so many ways: from training; to fund raising; to finding the boat; to learning about everything and anything we needed to know and didn’t before we started; it’s just been a non-stop whirlwind of a journey. However, we’re also deeply committed to raising awareness and money for two charities that are very close to our hearts: The Multiple Sclerosis Society; and East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices. An adventure of this scale really gets people talking and has provided us with the perfect platform from which to promote these two truly worthy causes.

Why we are doing the race - Rowing the Atlantic Ocean has long been our ambition since first hearing about our old school teacher, Mark Mortimer, who along with Martin Bellamy made an inspiring crossing of the Atlantic in 1997 with 'Salamanca'. We see the Atlantic as one of the world's toughest challenges and the fact that its a race is what really appeals to us!

Ole was born in Denmark in 1948 and have lived in Canada for the last 40 years where he baked 7 billion waffles before retiring. Now Ole is an adventurer biking south America with Brian 38 years old from Denmark.it was on one of those trips Ole met Tori Holmes and Steve who told Ole about the Atlantic Rowing Race. This sounded like a great thing to do so Ole asked Brian and he agreed and here we are rowing across the ocean. We look forward to meeting a lot of great people doing this adventure and one of the highlights will be, (besides Christmas and New Year) our birthdays as we both celebrate on January 11th, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. We have agreed that each person is allowed to invite only one guest for the party due to lack of space in the rowing boat, so we are both excited as to who shows up !

When the suggestion of rowing across the Atlantic first came up, we thought it sounded like an interesting challenge, but without any rowing or ocean experience it wasn’t initially clear that this was a challenge for us. Pretty soon though the idea had got under our skin and after a while we could think of nothing else. Ultimately we didn’t choose to enter the Woodvale Race, it simply became something that we had to do. We race to learn more about ourselves and each other. We race to win.

After rowing the English Channel with virtually no rowing experience we decided we needed to increase the distance slightly with our next challenge. Rowing across one of the world’s oceans has now become a bit of an obsession and we are relishing what will be the greatest test of mental and physical endurance we have ever undertaken. Plus we reckon its good to do something pretty silly once in a while for a very worthy cause!

We have entered the race for the challenge, sense of adventure and the excitement that surrounds it.

We both enjoy the outdoors and are always up for a challenge. Rowing the Atlantic will present the biggest physical and mental test we have ever faced. For us it is probably a once in a lifetime challenge that will really test us. The whole project will be something that we will always remember as being a great adventure. It has also enabled us to raise a significant amount of money for our charities (Brain Tumour UK & Shrewsbury House). Bring on Antigua!

Richard Hoyland

I’m a 38 year old Programme Manager from Leatherhead. Originally from Nottinghamshire I've moved around the country over the years before moving out to Leatherhead two years ago with my wife Louise and three children Ben, Freya and Willow. Most of my experience of the sea has been either coastal sailing or motorboats, so I’m completely new to the world of rowing. My hobbies include running, triathlons and more recently surfing. My motivation is to raise significant funds for the British Heart Foundation after losing my father to a heart attack in 2004. I have run a couple of marathons to raise money and now intend to eclipse my previous fundraising efforts.

Steve Coe

I’m a 46 yrs old Landscape Gardening company Director based in Leatherhead. Originally from Greenwich, I was introduced to rowing at a very early age and competed at countless junior regattas. My rowing career continued for many years and I rowed at National standard. After a five year apprentices

As gig rowers inspired by stories of survival, we both wanted to experience the mid Atlantic from the perspective of a small boat. By taking part in the 2009 Atlantic rowing race we hope to raise funds for the Cornwall Blind Association.

Annie:
I’ve just turned 40 but I’d like to get it straight that I’m not going through a mid life crisis! I have always, always wanted to do something of this magnitude and what could possibly be bigger than rowing the Atlantic? I know it’s going be the hardest thing I’ve ever done and boy, is my bum going to suffer… but that’s kind of the whole point as far as I’m concerned. I want to feel I’ve really achieved something in my life and if I can raise some money for Macmillan and get an amazing tan along the way, then bring it on!


Mel:
I returned from the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race last year and since then have missed having a challenge to plan and aim for. Annie and I have talked about rowing the Atlantic for a few years and we’ve now decided this is our year. I know it will be tougher mentally and physically than I can possibly imagine, but that’s what I want, it’s only when you really push yourself you realise what you’re capable of. The sense of achievement when we re

We are raising funds and awareness for the Fire Fighter Charity who support firefighters injured in the line of duty. They also support the families of firefighters that have sadly lost thier lives whilst saving others.As for Simon and myself. We feel that this is the pinacle of all challenges, and definately a once in a lifetime opportunity. We have both experienced extremely challenging situations in the Fire and Rescue Service and now look forward to a challenge of a different kind. Our goals are to complete the journey safely and hopefully raise some funds for a very worthy charity.

James is rowing for St Barnabas House Hospice in recognition of the amazing work they do for patients admitted into their care. Having first hand experience of the treatment his father recieved and the impact that care had on the entire family, James would like to make a contribution toward the new 'Building A Dream' project. St Barnabas has been running as an independent charity within the current building since the seventies and the time has come when that Hospice is struggling to meet the demands placed upon it. To continue the work they are doing St Barnabas are in the process of constructing a new £13.5 Million Hospice, for which much funding is still required.

We are two mates from university who are looking to raise money and awareness for two fantastic charities. Little did we know when we first met that four years later we would be about to embark on the challenge of our lives. The sheer vastness of the task laid bare before us just seemed too appealing to let slip, and we firmly believe that through this we have the opportunity to support those who, on a day-to-day basis, significantly better the lives of young people all across the South East. Neither of us have ever rowed before, but hey, in the immortal words of Jeremy Clarkson: “How hard can it be?!”

After rowing together for the last four years, Kiley and Sarah were looking for a bigger challenge. The Channel crossing seemed too small and only the Atlantic would do!

Although we had originally planned to do the race as a pair, Karen joined our coastal rowing crew and we decided to ask her to join us. All we needed was the fourth crew member and Jo Langmead, a friend of Karens was crazy enough to agree.

We are all really happy to have acquired ‘Mission Atlantic’ and in the spirit of friendly inter island rivalry we would love to beat the crossing time of 67 days set by the original owners, the Guernsey girls.

In December 2009, four adventurous Gloucestershire lads will be rowing across the Atlantic ocean as part of the Woodvale Atlantic Challenge 2009. The team hope to raise £50,000 for the British Heart Foundation and the National Star College (Cheltenham).


Team INSIGHT is made up of Paul, Benjy, Andy and Dominic, who will be spending anywhere between 40 & 100 days at sea in a purpose-built four-man ocean rowing boat and will cover a distance of 2,500 nautical miles (~3,000 miles).

All the crew hail from in or around Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. None have ever taken on a challenge such as this, but all are determined in their endeavour and, in addition to competing in the ultimate rowing adventure, hope to raise thousands of pounds for the Team’s nominated charities - The British Heart Foundation and The National Star College (Cheltenham).

Why do we row?
A passion for wide open spaces and nature, a pleasure to practice endurance sports, a taste for challenge, a strong will to remain simple as time passes by.... Here we are, ready to row across the Atlantic Ocean.
Our moto: "He who lives without folly isn't so wise as he thinks"