Ocean rowing
As ocean rowing crossing of is oceans with rowboats with sporty reasonable motivation referred. Projects of this kind represent an overlap of different elements from conventional rowing , extreme sports and adventure sports .
history
.jpg)
The successful attempt by the Norwegian-American duo Frank Samuelsen and George Harbo is considered the first ocean crossing . On June 6, 1896, they started in Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan with the open wooden rowing boat "Fox". After about 6000 kilometers they reached the Isles of Scilly off the south-western tip of England after 55 days and 13 hours , and then rowed on to France. Samuelsen and Harbo earned a $ 10,000 prize for their first Atlantic crossing, awarded by the New York Police Gazette . The next attempt at crossing, also eastward in the North Atlantic, did not take place until the 1960s. By the year 1981 over 30 rudder projects were started in the meantime all three major oceans, because of the then usual sparse technical equipment today as "historic ocean crossings" ( english historic ocean rows are called). More than half of the historic crossings were unsuccessful and some teams lost their lives at sea.
For safety reasons, technical equipment has been used more consistently since 1982. The number of expeditions rose sharply from around 2000, so that as of March 2017 around 700 projects are known. Despite the use of modern technology, many ocean rowers still fail to cross, often due to injuries or technical problems. Deaths and missing teams have become rare.
As ocean rowing became popular, competitions quickly developed. The Atlantic Challenge has been held every two years since 1997 (with exceptions) and annually since 2015 and is the best-known and largest competition. The Great Pacific Race has been leading across the Pacific from California to Hawaii since 2014 ; there are also other smaller competitions. Of the around 700 documented expeditions (as of March 2017), around 370 took place in the context of a competition and around 330 on an individual basis.
As a result of the inevitable dangers at sea, eight people are known to have died in the course of the history of ocean rowing (as of 2017). Only one corpse, but all seven wrecked boats were found. On the west coast of Ireland, the Ocean Rower Memorial has been commemorating the rowers who died at sea since 2003 .
In 1983, Kenneth Frank Crutchlow (1944-2016) and Peter Bird founded the Ocean Rowing Society , which has been an international association since 2006 with headquarters in England and the United States. She acts as a lobbyist for ocean rowers and keeps various statistics on successful and canceled rowing projects. The organization also acts as an arbitrator on ocean rowing projects against Guinness World Records .
Rowing boats and technology
For ocean rowing, specialized rowing boats are used, which have only a few properties in common with sport rowing boats from conventional rowing . Ocean crossers often design or build their boats themselves in advance of the crossing or buy used boats and equip and convert them according to their plans. Ocean rowing boats are completely seaworthy with regard to the buoyancy properties in rough seas and the presence of navigation and radio devices, distress equipment ( emergency beacon , life raft ) and drinking water conditioners is common. Also, satellite telephone and -internet available today in virtually every ocean rowing boat on board. In the stern or in the bow of the boat there are lockable cabins, in which the athletes sleep and stay in a storm, as well as store supplies. In the event of a capsize, all modern ocean rowing boats straighten up by themselves due to their design. Modern fiber composites , which are robust and light at the same time, are mainly used as manufacturing materials . The curb weight of the boats is still a few hundred kilograms, loaded with the necessary equipment and food, most of the boats weigh over half a ton at the beginning of an expedition.
In terms of rowing technique, ocean rowing and conventional rowing are similar. Components such as the oarlock , the roller seat as well as sculls or oars can also be found in ocean rowing boats. Due to the significantly higher mass and different hull shapes of the ocean boats, the dynamic execution of the oar stroke is clearly different. Ocean rowing boats can be built as one , two , four or as a larger crew boat with up to 16 athletes. However, variants with more than four athletes are rare.
Conceptually, two types of ocean rowing boats have become established, which differ in design and speed as well as in some safety aspects. The classic or traditional type ( classic class ) is a little slower and more stable, autopilots for steering are not allowed. The boat shape of the open class ( open class ) allows the exploitation of wind shift is less in a stable position and can be operated with an autopilot. In competitions, due to the differences in speed, participants are typically recorded in separate ratings for both boat types.
Procedure and tactics
It takes more than a year to prepare for an ocean crossing. In addition to sporting skills, all participants must have certificates of the ability to properly use nautical aids and devices, especially for radio and navigation. In addition, courses in survival training and first aid at sea are necessary.
During the entire expedition, ocean rowers operate independently and without an escort boat or ship, so they take all the necessary equipment and food on board at the start of the crossing. Only the use of a seawater desalination machine , fishing and collecting rainwater are allowed on the way. An inner ballast tank is attached to the keel of the boat, in which drinking water is filled in case of emergency. If the technical desalination machine fails, the rowers can drink from the ballast and bridge the time until the rescue. In order to be scored in a competition at the finish, the inner ballast tank must remain untouched - it is a safety feature that supports the independent righting of the boat in the event of capsizing.
Communication with the outside world is still severely restricted. The use of satellite telephones , radio and, in the meantime, e-mails is permitted, and outside help is not permitted. However, ocean rowers are now blogging during the expedition and trying to use their crossing for commercial or charitable purposes.
On the way, rowers spend most of their time rowing and sleeping. In crew boats, the boat is usually rowed in a rotating manner, which is then in motion at all times. Single rowers take regular breaks and have the course of the boat monitored by an alarm system during the sleep phase. The crew's duties also include steering, observing maritime traffic and observing the weather. An Atlantic crossing typically takes between one and a half and four months, depending on the type of boat, number of crews, weather and route.
Routes and records
The passage across the southern North Atlantic is by far the most popular among ocean rowers. In a westerly direction, it is usually from Portugal, North Africa or the Canary Islands to an island in the Lesser Antilles (e.g. Antigua or Barbados ). Various routes are also chosen in the opposite direction, as well as on the less frequented other oceans. The comparability of the times is therefore severely limited and at best possible within a competition. Nevertheless, record times for particularly fast crossings of all oceans are maintained by the Ocean Rowing Society and Guinness World Records .
Others
A differentiation from ocean rowing is coastal rowing in the coastal area of the seas, which is much more similar to conventional rowing, but does not take place on inland waters.
literature
- Janice Jakait : Thundering silence / A woman rowing across the Atlantic . Scorpio Verlag, Munich 2014, ISBN 3-943416-56-9 .
Web links
- International Ocean Rowing Society
- New Ocean Wave - Great Pacific Race
- Ocean Row Events - Provider of various ocean rowing competitions
Individual evidence
- ^ A Journey Into The History. In: www.oceanrowing.com. Ocean Rowing Society, accessed April 30, 2017 .
- ↑ Atlantic crossing: reference number T 450. In: www.spiegel.de. Der Spiegel , May 21, 1966, accessed April 30, 2017 .
- ↑ Chronological Listing of All Ocean Rows, compiled by Oceanrowing.com (part 1). In: www.oceanrowing.com. Ocean Rowing Society, accessed April 30, 2017 .
- ^ A b Chronological Listing of All Ocean Rows, compiled by Oceanrowing.com (part 8). In: www.oceanrowing.com. Ocean Rowing Society, accessed April 30, 2017 .
- ↑ Rowers lost at sea. In: www.oceanrowing.com. Ocean Rowing Society, accessed April 30, 2017 .
- ↑ ORS 30 years. In: www.oceanrowing.com. Ocean Rowing Society, accessed April 30, 2017 .
- ^ Boats. In: www.newoceanwave.com. New Ocean Wave, accessed April 30, 2017 .
- ^ For example: New Ocean Wave: Race Rules. In: www.newoceanwave.com. New Ocean Wave, accessed April 30, 2017 .