Old Salopians now over halfway in the 'World's Toughest Row'

Salopians may be interested to have a progress report regarding the participation of Old Salopians Rob Cross (S 2008-2013) and Rob Treasure (I 2009-2014) who are currently rowing across the Atlantic.

'The World's Toughest Row' is a more than 3,000 mile race across the Atlantic from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua. The race started on Wednesday 11 December 2024 and the two Robs and their fellow TEAMV3NTURE oarsman have now passed the halfway mark! The trio is currently in 9^th place overall (36 boats remain in the race) and, as at 12.00 on 2 January 2025 (Day 23 of the race), they have already covered over 1,500 nautical miles with 1,310 nautical miles to go.  

The team rows in a shift pattern which means each member rows for 14 hours a day; and important routine tasks aboard ‘Stephen’ include keeping her solar panels clean for vital power generation and clearing barnacles from her hull (which involves swimming). The team has been accompanied by dolphins and has been visited by a Storm petrel.  They hope to see a whale (other boats have) and hope to avoid a marlin strike (other boats have been struck).

The weather conditions have not been kind in the first half of the race: a combination of adverse winds and Saharan dust clouds forced the fleet to track further south than usual.  As a result the team faces the prospect of having rowed over 3,235 statute miles in total when they finally reach Antigua later this month.  However, weather conditions are now looking more favourable; and the team is in very good spirits as it embarks on the ‘homeward’ leg of the journey.

If Members are interested in following the race while in progress, the free YB App is excellent and very easy to use: download at YB Races App | YB Tracking and search for the World's Toughest Row Atlantic 2024. Each team’s location, speed, ranking, distance to travel, etc. can then be seen at a glance. The data is updated every 4 hours. TEAM V3NTURE can be followed on Instagram/X/Facebook: @teamv3nture. 

 TEAM V3NTURE is seeking to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support and have raised over £54,000 to date.  The target is £140,000 for MacMillan, and if any Member would like to support the team’s charitable fund-raising the link is: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/macmillanv3.  Any support that the Salopian community is able to give would be hugely appreciated. A huge thank you to those who have already donated.

Rob Cross is the elder son of Old Salopian James Cross (O 1975-1980).