The Challenge
The idea for the Atlantic Race originates from Sir Chay Blyth and John Ridgeway's 92-day 1966 Atlantic tour.
The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge starts from the Canary Islands, La Gomera, and ends at Antigua in the Caribbean 40-70 days later. The tour is completed without assistance and everything needed during the race must be brought from the start.
Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge is arguably the World's toughest rowing challenge, covering a span of 5000 kilometers and more than 1.5 million strokes. The distance is traveled either by one or up to five people per boat. This requires a strong physique, but more so, a strong psyche, as waves become 15 meters high, the blisters are getting worse, you are constantly exposed to salt water, the seasickness loses its grip and the fear of capsizing sets in.
Last year's winners and current world record holders, The Four Oarsmen, completed the trip across the Atlantic in just 29 days.
Kasper
Age: 36.
Lives in Faxe with Julie and our daughter Esther. I work as an anesthetic nurse at Køge Hospital. One of the things I bring with me for the trip is enduring control and the ability to maintain calm in even the most stressful situations.
Simon
Age: 38.
Lives in Faxe Ladeplads with Christina and our two children, Alfred and Nelson. I'm a regional manager at bookstore chain Arnold Busck. Something that I can bring to the trip is my strenght within planning, systematics and attention to detail as well as the ability to get a team to work together.
Our boat
Our boat features two cabins - one in the front and one in the back. The middle part of the boat is the human engine room.
Our boat is 7.3m long, 1.7m wide and has a maximum height of 1.35m
Our radios, navigation equipment, watermaker system and all other electronic devices are powered by solar panels
A day on the boat
1
Food
On our own for 2 months, we’ll have to carry everything we need. Each of us will burn at least 8000 kcal a day.
Each rower loses on average 12kg crossing the Atlantic!
At the startline we will have around 800.000 kcal with us.
2
2 hours on
2 hours off
The 2 hours rule: 2 hours on, 2 hours off. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When you’re not rowing nor sleeping, you cook, clean, fix the boat or communicate with land.
3
Watermaker
Staying well hydrated is the most important thing we will have to maintain. A desalinator working on solar panels will help us changing sea water into drinking water. Each rower needs to aim to consume 10 litres of water per day.
4
Navigation
and safety
We have all the technology on board we need to reach Antigua and not going to much north-or southwards. Family, friends and girlfriends will be able to track us daily on the big map. At its deepest, the Atlantic Ocean is 8.5km deep. The waves the rowers will experience can measure up to 6 meters high. There are two safety yachts supporting the teams as they cross the ocean. The teams are supported 24/7 by two land-based duty officers.
We support
There is no worse thought than children that are diagnosed with life-threatening disease or children that are so vulnerable that they do not even have a home, where they feel safe. These are situations that for many are hard to imagine, but unfortunately the reality for many children. CoolUnite gives support to these children. Children that suffer from serious and life-threatening disease and children that are born into families, where abuse is part of their everyday life.
Among others, CoolUnite cooperates with Denmarks only children’s hospice, Lukashuset. Here, children can receive palliative care, while the entire family can stay together. Often only one parent can stay with the child in hospitals, and therefore this is often the first time during the child’s illness that the family has an opportunity to be united with and around the child.
Furthermore, CoolUnite has established Pausehuset in collaboration with Ønskeland. Pausehuset means the Break House, and as the name indicates it is a place where a child with a serious illness and their family can take a break from their everyday lives, hospitalization, cleaning and cooking.
At CoolUnite we believe that honesty is the most important element when it comes to charity. That is why we strive to have the most transparent charitable foundation in Denmark, where everybody can follow every step of our journey. Therefore you can find stories and information on all causes we support on our website.
DR2 program The good advice
Simon and Kasper want to row across the Atlantic
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The fathers Simon and Kasper risk their lives to row across the Atlantic in a rowing boat. But what should they say to their boyfriends and children who have to wait at home? They seek spiritual guidance from the Good Council, which consists of Archbishop Thomas Frank, alley Andrea Hejlskov and priest and Kierkegaard expert Pia Søltoft. Expires: May 30, 2022
TV2 East
19:30 and 22:15 the news
We were on TV2 East and told about Row For Change and our journey towards La Gomera
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by RowForChange 2020