Yorkshire Post

Two friends aim to row around the UK in the fastest time

Pair are facing a perilous 1,650-mile trip to beat the world record of 41 days, four hours, and 38 minutes

- STEVE TEALE NEWS CORRESPOND­ENT Email: yp.newsdesk@ypn.co.uk Twitter: @yorkshirep­ost There are lots of challenges like whirlpools and strong currents. Duncan Roy, one of two rowers aiming to break a world record.

WHEN AN adventurou­s 2,300mile rowing trip from Los Angeles to Hawaii was ruled out, Duncan Roy and Gus Barton set their sights on something closer to home.

Instead of crossing the Pacific Ocean, the two friends decided to try to row around Britain instead.

But to make it even more challengin­g, they are trying to break the world record of 41 days, four hours, and 38 minutes which means they cannot touch land.

The pair, who are now off the coast of Scotland about halfway around the UK, admitted it was proving a tough challenge.

“It doesn’t sound that difficult,” said Mr Roy, 29, a former British Army Royal Engineer who now lives in North Yorkshire.

“But people are surprised to hear it’s around 1,650 nautical miles and there are lots of challenges on the way like whirlpools, strong currents and some very rocky coastline. It’s far from easy.”

The row is completely unsupporte­d and they cannot touch land at any stage to make it a valid circumnavi­gation.

However, both are experience­d ocean rowers and have already travelled from Ramsgate clockwise around the UK.

They navigated the Gulf of

Corryvrack­en, home to one of the largest permanent whirlpools on Earth, where author George Orwell almost drowned in 1947.

Mr Roy said: “We didn’t have any problem with the whirlpool, but then we found ourselves stuck by the current off Mull.

It means we are unlikely to break the record but we will try.”

The pair are rowing 1,200 strokes an hour, 18 hours a day and are consuming 6,000 calories a day. Last night, the pair were just off Peterhead with Aberdeen in their sights.

Mr Barton, who is from London, is fundraisin­g for the Sport in Mind charity, after a friend’s father committed suicide in February.

Mr Roy, of Ingleby Cross, near Northaller­ton, is rowing for the NHS Charities Together where his partner works as a nurse.

He has rowed the Atlantic Ocean twice in 2017-2018 and then in 2018-2019, and has since shared his knowledge and skill with many ocean-rowing teams. Last year, the friends came together as part of Latitude 35 team to row across the Pacific Ocean, from San Francisco to Hawaii.

After the tough decision was made at the end of May to call off the Pacific crossing due to coronaviru­s, they began exploring ways to use their physical training and mental preparatio­n nearer to home. In 10 days, they chartered an ocean-rowing boat, found sponsorshi­p, sourced ration packs, plotted their route, refined their training plans, sourced all of the equipment needed and checked the Government’s guidelines to ensure the challenge can go safely ahead.

They say the biggest challenges are navigating shipping lanes, sleep deprivatio­n and salt sores. They also said that being able to see land will be psychologi­cally more challengin­g than being on the wider ocean.

Mr Roy only took up rowing through rehabilita­tion for an injury, and said: “I started competing and fell in love with the sport.

“This organicall­y led to river rowing and then ultimately spiralled into ocean rowing.”

 ?? PICTURES: STUDIO SNAPSYACHT ?? HALFWAY: Yorkshirem­an Duncan Roy and his friend Gus Barton are rowing around the UK, aiming to break the world record of 41 days. They are about halfway.
PICTURES: STUDIO SNAPSYACHT HALFWAY: Yorkshirem­an Duncan Roy and his friend Gus Barton are rowing around the UK, aiming to break the world record of 41 days. They are about halfway.

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