| 40-day unsupported Atlantic crossing | Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge 2018-19 |
In December 2018, I set out with a team of four to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge — widely regarded as the world’s toughest row. Our route took us from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in the Caribbean, entirely unsupported.
We rowed in a two-hours-on, two-hours-off shift pattern, 24 hours a day, for 40 consecutive days. The boat was a 28-foot ocean rowing vessel with no engine, no sail, and no support craft. Everything we needed for the crossing — food, water (via desalination), and equipment — was carried on board from day one.
Conditions ranged from flat calms to 40-foot swells. We navigated squalls, equipment failures, and the relentless physical and psychological toll of open-ocean rowing.
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The Atlantic row was a lesson in sustained effort under uncertainty. There were no shortcuts — just consistent execution, day after day. The team dynamics, decision-making under fatigue, and tolerance for discomfort have shaped how I approach hard problems since.
The £25k we raised for MS charities made the effort feel worthwhile beyond the crossing itself.