At a time when most of us are staying at home, two local rowers have been making the most of their lockdown time and taking part in the world’s toughest rowing race – the Talisker Atlantic Challenge. Will Cogley and Gemma Best, two very experienced gig rowers from Portishead and Bristol took to the water as part of the team Force Genesis, a mixed crew with 2 others from the South West. Leaving from La Gomera in the Canaries on December 12th and finally touching land in Nelson’s Dockyard, Antigua, the journey of 3,000 miles took them a total of 50 days, 22 hours and 16 minutes in their 8 metre boat, Jasmine Anne. The purpose of the journey was not only to push their body and minds to the limits but to raise money for a great charity, Devon Blood Bikes in the process.
Reaching dry land after 50 days at sea was an incredible achievement as their journey was certainly not all plain sailing. Not only did they have to endure 40ft waves, heavy storms, sun burn, busy shipping lines, blisters, dehydration and home sickness, they also had to navigate serious electrical issues on the boat. They had planned to split into two crews during the journey, and row two hours on in pairs and have two hours rest and sleep, following the same pattern as the other 21 crews in the race. However the electrical issues meant they had to resort to hand steering as they couldn’t use the automatic steering equipment on the boat, despite multiple attempts to fix it. This led to them having to row individually and steer by hand which slowed their journey. It also meant there was no hot water – so there were no cups of tea or hot food. They really had to dig deep to keep rowing, keep their spirits up and reach Antigua. “We laughed a lot which helped keep morale going, and rowing alongside marine life such as dolphins was pretty amazing. However the updates from home and what our clubs were doing to support us really spurred on us.”
Portishead Pilot Gig Club and Clevedon Celtic were inspired by their race and set up their own challenge whilst Will and Gemma were out on the sea. Between them, with erging, cycling, swimming, walking and running they put in over 6000 miles. “Will and Gemma have been an inspiration to us, particularly in lockdown and it helped us to keep our exercise up knowing we were supporting to keep them going. What Will and Gemma have managed to achieve is incredible and we’re really proud of them.” Said Hedley Jones, Vice-Chair of Portishead Pilot Gig Club.
The challenge for Force Genesis ran throughout the entire race. “Seeing land for the first time was fantastic and such a relief, but we really had our work cut out rowing the boat into harbour against huge waves and an unbelievably strong wind. It was such an amazing feeling to finally arrive. Those last few miles were really some of the toughest. It was an awesome, awesome experience. I’ve always wanted to row an ocean so to actually complete it is a dream come true. We were challenged beyond belief but I would do it again.” said Will. I’m sure that first cup of tea tasted good!
If anyone would like to donate to their cause, please go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/force-genesis
