ATLANTIC OCEAN ROW TRAINING UPDATE: WINTER PREPARATION

December: Learning from the 2025 World’s Toughest Row Start – La Gomera

In December we travelled to La Gomera to watch the start of the 2025 World’s Toughest Row – Atlantic.

Watching the fleet depart removes any abstraction from the challenge. Once the boats clear the harbour wall, it’s simply 3,000 miles of open ocean to Antigua.

Seeing the final preparations was useful — final equipment checks, departure procedures, and the general atmosphere on the dock. The biggest takeaway was that by the time we stand on that same start line in December 2026, everything needs to feel routine.

Although we completed the minimum qualifying sea time in 2025, the aim isn’t just to meet the race requirement. We want to arrive at the start line knowing we’ve done everything possible to prepare properly.

With the busy summer flying season ahead, the early months of 2026 have been about getting as much time on the water as possible while our schedules allow.

January: Optimising Our Ocean Rowing Boat

January focused on improving our ocean rowing boat, Freedom.

We installed new onboard storage solutions, refined the internal layout, and adjusted weight distribution.

On a small ocean rowing boat, organisation matters. If equipment isn’t easy to access, it wastes time and energy — both of which become limited during a 40-day Atlantic crossing.

After completing the upgrades, we headed out for a 15-hour training row to test the changes. Everything worked as planned and the boat is now much easier to operate efficiently during longer rows.

February: 22 Hours Offshore Training Row

In February we completed a 22-hour offshore training row in a significant sea state.

It was uncomfortable from the start and became progressively harder as fatigue built. Seasickness also made an appearance — Jon is well acquainted with the sick bucket, but this time Scott and Martin really felt it. Setting off into the dark, big swell and no horizon, sea sickness is inevitable, but useful to experience in training rather than during the race itself.

During the row we also ran night-time emergency drills, operating with head torches while already fatigued.

Sessions like this test more than just rowing. They show how well the crew works together when tired and whether the systems on the boat function properly when conditions aren’t straightforward.

March: Longer Atlantic Row Training Sessions

March gave us the opportunity to spend several extended days on the water and begin building longer rows.

These sessions focused on practising the routines we’ll rely on during the Atlantic crossing:

• 2 hours rowing / 1 hour rest shifts

• crew changeovers

• rowing '3-up' on the oars - all of us rowing together like a well oiled machine

• night rowing

• nutrition and hydration strategies

Longer rows quickly highlight small issues that shorter sessions don’t reveal — things like kit organisation, watch routines and managing fatigue over long periods.

The more of those details we can solve now, the better prepared we’ll be when the race begins.

Rowing for Cancer Charities

Alongside the challenge itself, we’re rowing in support of Young Lives vs Cancer and MOVE Against Cancer.

Both charities do important work supporting people affected by cancer, particularly helping people stay active and maintain a sense of normality during and after treatment.

We’re still nine months out from the start, but thanks to the generosity of friends, family and supporters we’ve already raised over £1,000 for the charities. We’re really proud of that early support, and it’s a great start to what we hope will be a much bigger fundraising effort over the next year.

The goal now is to keep building momentum — both on the water and with the fundraising — as we continue preparing for the start of the World’s Toughest Row in December 2026.