Cape to Rio rowers return with record
LOCAL rowers Braam Malherbe and Wayne Robertson returned home after rowing for 92 days from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro.
They set a new record by rowing over 7 500km over three months with limited amounts of water, food and clothing. The trip took an exuberant two years of preparation for the two fellows, having to believe in the three keys of success, which is exercise mentally, eat correctly and to train and rest.
Before the #CapeToRio project, Malherbe had no rowing experience and Robertson was an adventurer of some sort. Malherbe rowed this boat for the first time three months prior to the race.
“I’ve never crossed an ocean before in a ship or a yacht, so I chose one of the most difficult ways to do it.” After their water pump exploded they ended up having nine litres of water in five days.
“It does not sound like a lot, until you have to cook and hydrate.
With the nine litres of water, we had to use 500ml a day until the sun could power up our solar panels.”
They had to row for two hours and rest for two hours, everyday. The problem was sleep deprivation most of the time and losing weight (about 13-14kg).
When it came to windy days and big waves, Malherbe and Robertson were on parachute anchor four times, which means the sea was too big and blowing at them.
“The sea was 5kms deep where we were, so we could not drop the anchor, but our huge parachute went 80 to 100 in depth and it held the bow at the front of the boat into the wave,” said Malherbe.
The next adventure for him is to the South Pole with the idea to do a certain navigation at the top of the Capricorn. That’s a distance of over 38 000km, which will take approximately 14 months with zero carbon emissions.