Ex-Marine is first blind man to row the Pacific

Storms: blind rower Steve Sparkes A FORMER Royal Marine has become the first blind person to row the Pacific Ocean.

Steve Sparkes (57) completed a gruelling 2,400 miles in a rowing boat from Monterey, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, in just 82 days.

Falkland’s War veteran Mr Sparkes was medically discharged from the Armed Forces after a diving accident damaged his eyesight, and set himself the target of rowing the Pacific to inspire other injured veterans.

He said he was “elated” but “exhausted” after finishing the Great Pacific Race on Tuesday, after experiencing weeks of extreme weather and only a cramped cabin for protection.

Mr Sparkes was accompanied by fellow ex-Marine and experienced ocean rower Mick Dawson (54) who himself entered the record books in 2009 for a 7,000mile row across the North Pacific from Japan to San Francisco.

Mr Sparkes, from Devon, said: “I’m not jumping around because I’m exhausted. But inside I am elated. It’s been amazing.

“This has been phenomenal for me, and I wouldn’t have done it without Mick. It was very hard. At one point we didn’t see the sun for about 30 days because of the weather. We got hit by some serious storms and our boat semi-capsized. I think this shows if you put your mind to it you can do anything.”