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A pair of local endurance sport enthusiasts have set off on their epic mission to become the first Jersey pair in over 20 years to paddle 3,000 miles across the Atlantic – despite having no rowing experience.
Together known as ‘Dragonfish Row’, Peter Wright and Steve Hayes set off from the Canary Islands for the Talisker Whisky Challenge on Monday, with an aim of raising as much money as possible for Durrell and Macmillan Jersey.
The marathon will see them row the entire width of the Atlantic Ocean to reach Antigua.
They will be rowing consistently - two hours on, two hours off, 24 hours a day - until they reach their destination. The shortest recorded time for this crossing is 29 days. The longest, is 96 days.
Even for a seasoned rower, it would be a challenge – but the pair have no previous rowing experience.
Express caught up with them before they set off…
In his day job, Peter is a Finance Director at Prosperity 24/7 and his teammate Steve Hayes is a Hotel manager at the Somerville Hotel.
According to Peter, the pair “have been friends for 10 years” and bonded over their mutual love of “endurance challenges”.
When they met, Steve “had just swam the channel” and Peter “had just run the Marathon Des Sables in the Sahara". Steve is also a Triple Ironman winner and has won the ‘Yukon Arctic Ultra’, a 300-mile race through Canada’s most remote region with temperatures hitting -40 degrees.
Pictured: Peter Wright (left) and Steve Hayes (right)
Peter has completed the 'Dragon's Back', 236-mile race across Welsh mountains. If all the ascents in the race were added up, it would be twice the height of Mount Everest.
If that wasn't enough. he's also done a marathon pulling a one-tonne car. As a team, they have completed a marathon through the Brazilian jungle, which sees runners exposed to 99% humidity, poisonous plants and unfriendly wildlife.
As Peter put it, with almost criminal modesty, “we’ve done ice, the jungle, the desert...and I like a good mountain.”
When asked what it is that draws him to these kinds of gruelling endurance challenges, Peter said: “It’s just good to go outside your comfort zone. I’m drawn by the sense of adventure, of exploration.”
Pictured: Steve Hayes (left) during the Yukon Artic Ultra, and Peter Wright (right) during the Jungle Marathon
Now, the pair are tackling what has been described as 'the world's toughest row', an epic trek across the Atlantic Ocean as part of the annual Talisker Whisky Challenge.
Peter said the row was “firmly on Steve’s bucket list" and that he had been "thinking about doing it solo”, but after due consideration he thought better of it, and decided to ask Pete along “to share the experience.” Not a man to be easily discouraged by hardship, Peter said: “I didn’t take long to be persuaded"
That was all two years ago, and they have been preparing ever since.
They’ve had to face a number of hurdles.
The team have raised the money for the challenge, around £120,000, through sponsorship, with D.G.R Slatter Decorators as their title sponsor. Other familiar names include KPMG, Rossborough Insurance, the Style Group, Ports of Jersey and Investec.
Pictured: The team had to learn to row from scratch with the aid of the Jersey rowing club.
The main cost they incurred was the boat itself.
They decided to go as cheap as possible with the boat, purchasing a secondhand Adkin’s Pair boat. It’s an older model and is second-hand, having already undertaken four crossings.
According to Peter, "It’s likely to be the heaviest boat in the race this year". However, he displayed a measure of pride in this fact, adding: “She’s a proven old warhorse.”
The boat itself cost around £25,000, and has required extensive maintenance work. So extensive, that Peter compared it to “running a company.”
The training for the event has been no less gruelling.
Almost unbelievably, neither Peter or Steve have any rowing experience. “We’d never rowed in our lives before, which is not unusual for this kind of event.”
So, the first task was to learn how to row, which they did with the support of the Jersey Rowing Club, who were “absolutely amazing.”
Times were tough during covid, as “we couldn’t row with anyone outside of our own household”, which naturally put pay to practicing together.
It's been tough, with the pair "coming close to breaking point at times." In August, they had a lesson in coping in rough seas, having been rescued by the RNLI.
However, they've come a long way. Since starting practice, they completed a row from Sark to Jersey, and an around-the-island race.
In November, with just weeks to go before the start of the race, the trusty vessel was shipped to Spain, where it was joined by the pair. Over the course of two weeks, they then attended talks and lectures by rowing experts before finally setting off.
The challenge is a punishing one, with sleep deprivation, hallucinations and hunger cited as constant companions for competitors.
The sheer intensity of the race is evidenced by the statistics - according to the challenge website, "rowers lose an average of 15kgs of body mass during the row", will likely row "1.5 million oar strokes", and will burn "5,000 calories a day". The waves they may face could reach up to 30ft, and, "in the 2020 race, three boats were punctured by Marlin".
It can also be dangerous, with rowers exposed to everything the ocean could possibly conjure up.
They must wear a safety harness at all times, and all hatches must be completely sealed except when used. As Peter put it: "All it can take is a renegade wave to knock us off."
There is only one supporting ship, which will gradually weave its way in between the rowers as the race goes on and provide assistance in the case of emergency.
The living conditions on the boat are basic to say the least.
Pictured: The cabin the team will be sharing for over one-and-a-half months.
The pair only has one small cabin in the stern of the ship for protection against the elements. Any kind of covering to keep the rain at bay, even something as simple as a tarpaulin, would be a violation of the rules as it could be used as a sail.
The toilet situation is particularly stark: “We’re taking a bucket and chuck it approach.” They’ve purchased a bucket each - “strong, solid buckets” - that will serve them for the duration. They have even given them names: ‘Stig’ (of the…) and ‘King Richard III’ (rhymes with…).
Peter and Steve won’t be totally out of contact with home on their crossing - they will have radio contact with the organisers and will have a satellite phone to call loved ones back home. However, they have yet to work out how often they will be calling back as “it will be quite an emotional thing to do.”
After all, the pair's most optimistic estimate is that they will be away from friends and family for one-and-a-half months.
Pictured: 'Stig' and 'Richard III'
Peter said that he was feeling “a whole mixture of things” as the challenge approaches.
“On the one hand, I’m extremely excited, on the other hand I’m absolutely terrified. I just want to get started really.”
They are adamant that, while they are going to get across as fast as they can, they want to enjoy it. "If we encounter a whale or something, we’re going to stop and take as many photos as we possibly can.” In 2018, solo rower Kelda Wood was kept company by a whale for nearly seven days.
John Searson, the principal meteorologist at the Jersey Met office, completed an Atlantic Row in 1997 as a solo rower, after his partner sustained a back injury and could not continue.
John said that "once the race is underway, they'll feel a complete sense of relief that the race is underway."
The first week, he said, will be the worst: "In the first week I was fed up, and ready to pack it all in. But, given another five days, I had accepted it."
After that, John said he "slotted straight into it... I wanted to be on the oars all the time."
Ultimately, he said, "the row was the most fantastic experience I've ever done, I hope they get as much out of it as I did."
Of course, the team are ultimately doing this for charity, and hope to raise £50,000 for Durrell and Macmillan Jersey. The former was chosen as the pair are passionate about conservation, while the latter is due to the fact that the families of both rowers have been sadly touched by cancer.
Pictured: DragonFish Row will set off on the 12 December and hope to reach Antigua by the end of January.
Any excess sponsorship money will go straight to charity, and they are hoping to sell on their boat, the proceeds of which will also go directly to both causes.
Once they complete the challenge, they will be doing a series of talks, and are having a short film produced about their crossing, which will hopefully get them over the mark.
To support the pair on their row, you can click HERE.
To follow the team, click HERE.
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