Record-breaking dad’s Arctic epic
BATTLING against injury and failing power supplies in Arctic conditions, a Welshman has spoken of his gruelling expedition rowing 12 hours a day to reach the world’s northernmost points.
Cardiff-born Jeff Willis, 56, broke five Guinness World Records in seven days, rowing hundreds of miles with a team of international athletes.
Under the guidance of rowing legend Sir Steve Redgrave, the group have become the fastest, largest and oldest crew to cross the Arctic, reaching further north than any other crew to get to Svalbard island.
From Tromso in Sweden, the team crossed 566 nautical miles in seven days and seven hours, before the second leg of their journey to Siglufjörður in northern Iceland.
But, with a broken energy supply, no desalinator and a bad back injury, the trip was anything but easy.
Jeff said: “Everything was against us, but we smashed every record to bits. By the end of the second day we were wondering how we could do it, but by the fourth day your body accepts you’re going through hell and you can’t turn back.”
Alternating between hour-and-ahalf shifts rowing and resting, the team of five clocked up a marathon 129 hours rowing each in seven days.
For the father-of-three, the hardest element was trying to recover in the boat’s tiny cabin.
He said: “You have two men in an incredibly small cabin, it’s cold and wet and you get tossed around everywhere by the waves. You try desperately to sleep, but you get a maximum of 15 minutes per session.”
The data communications worker added: “I picked up a really bad back injury on the second day. That’s the nature of it, you’re open to the elements. You can’t let your men down and you can’t send people out on their own.” The team also had to deal with a broken desalinator and power cell within days of setting off, pushing the group to row faster to reach their goal before losing GPS navigation. Alongside physical and technical difficulty, the team also faced extreme mental challenges.
Jeff, who beat athletes half his age to be chosen, said: “Three in the morning looks the same as three in the afternoon, it’s one of the hardest things to cope with.”
The former rugby player and coach, born in Splott, added: “At one point the sea went from being completely calm to quite thunderous.”
Alongside the pain, however, highlights included the wildlife.
Jeff said: “A killer whale and her baby came alongside us for a while,” adding: “Two large walruses also popped their heads on the side of the boat and just stared at us.”
After reaching Longyearbyen, the crew will now embark on their journey’s second leg, rowing 1,200 miles to Siglufjörður.
As well as raising money to build a school in the Himalayas, the expedition will research how the men react to the Arctic environment.
Jeff, who has returned home due to his injury, will support the group through their journey via satellite.
He said: “I really wish I was there for the second leg. I’ll help as much as I can via satellite.”