ROWING ACROSS THE ATLANTIC IN A HOME-MADE BOAT

Until recently, more people have reportedly landed on the moon than rowed solo across the Atlantic Ocean. But that hasn’t put off one adventurous Scot who plans to do just that. Philippa Gerrard found out more

What are your plans this summer? A week in Majorca or perhaps a luxury cruise around the Caribbean? Maybe you’re just staying local, with a short minibreak to somewhere else in Scotland?

Whatever you’re doing, it’s likely to be a whole lot more relaxing than Duncan Hutchison’s next few months, which centre around a gruelling 3,400-mile solo row across the Atlantic beginning next month.

In a boat he built himself, the Lochinver resident is planning to row for 12 hours a day over a period of 100 days, taking him east from Manhattan Yacht Club in New York all the way to his home port back in Lochinver, in north-west Scotland, raising money for WaterAid in the process.

The charity enables some of the world’s poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education.

But for a man who describes himself as “just a normal guy”, what’s the reason behind such an extreme summer break?

“I don’t really know why I’m doing it,” Duncan laughed. “It wasn’t a lifelong ambition or anything like that.

“It pretty much started about three and a half years ago when I got involved with the local skiff club.

“I joined to start help build boats, and then I sort of got the idea that I’d like to build one for myself.

“I started out just replicating the hull shape of traditional skiff designer Iain Oughtred, who lives in Skye.

“He gave me the approval to copy his design as well as some pointers on going about it.

“When I started building I didn’t have a plan exactly, but things changed as I went along, and I deviated from the original design.

“Traditional skiffs are usually four-person rowboats, but I altered mine so it would be for one person only.

“Then the thought of what I would do with the boat after I built it came up, and so did the idea of the challenge.

“Apparently more people have walked on the moon then have rowed solo across the Atlantic.

“And of those who do, most

“I have a great passion for being out on the sea. I love when the weather is wild, or as I like to describe it, ‘alive’”