Frank Samuelsen and George Harbo were Norwegian-Americans who in 1896 became the first people ever to row across an ocean. Their time record for rowing the North Atlantic Ocean was not broken for 114 years,and then by four rowers instead of two.
Ocean rowing is the sport of rowing across oceans. Some ocean rowing boats can hold as many as fourteen rowers;however,the most common ocean rowboats are designed for singles,doubles,and fours.
Colin Angus is a Canadian author and adventurer who is the first person to make a self-propelled global circumnavigation. Due to varying definitions of the term "circumnavigation",debate has arisen as to whether or not the route travelled fulfilled the strictest criteria. As part of the circumnavigation,Angus and his then fiancéJulie Wafaei made the first rowboat crossing of the Atlantic Ocean from mainland Europe to mainland North America,and Wafaei became the first Canadian woman to row across any ocean. Colin and Julie have two sons:Leif,born September 2010,and Oliver,born June 2014.
JulieAngus is a Canadian rower,adventurer,writer,cyclist and entrepreneur,married to the explorer Colin Angus.
Victoria Murden McClure is an athlete,adventurer,chaplain,lawyer,and university administrator who was the first woman and the first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean,which she did in 1999. She was also the first woman and first American to ski to the geographic South Pole and the first woman to climb the Lewis Nunatak in the Antarctic. She is the president of Spalding University,a private Catholic university in Louisville,Kentucky. She also served as the Chair of the Board of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS),an outdoor education school headquartered in Lander,Wyoming,that emphasizes environmental ethics and wilderness excursions.
John Fairfax was a British ocean rower and adventurer who,in 1969,rowed across the Atlantic and became the first person to row solo across an ocean. He subsequently went on to become the first to row the Pacific Ocean in 1971 and 1972.
Erden Eruç is a Turkish-American adventurer who became the first person in history to complete an entirely solo and entirely human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth on 21 July 2012 in Bodega Bay,California,United States. The journey had started from Bodega Bay a little more than five years earlier on 10 July 2007. The modes of transport included a rowboat to cross the oceans,a sea kayak for shorelines,a bicycle on the roads and hiking on trails,along with canoes for a few river crossings. The route he followed was 66,299 km (41,196 mi) long,crossed the equator twice and all lines of longitude,and passed over twelve pairs of antipodal points,meeting all the requirements for a true circumnavigation of the globe. Guinness World Records has officially recognized Eruçfor the "First solo circumnavigation of the globe using human power" on a journey that lasted 5 years 11 days 12 hours and 22 minutes.
Sarah Dilys Outen is a British athlete and adventurer. She is also a motivational speaker in the UK and internationally. Outen was the first woman and the youngest person to row solo across the Indian Ocean and also the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Alaska. She completed a round-the-world journey,mostly under her own power,by rowing boat,bicycle and kayak,on 3 November 2015.
Gérard d'Aboville is the first man to row across two oceans solo:the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. He crossed the Atlantic in 1980,travelling from Cape Cod to Brittany. D'Aboville previously built boats and organized races before undertaking this 3,500 mile trip,which he completed in 72 days. In 1981,he was a recipient of the Silver Olympic Order.
A junk raft is a type of home-built watercraft made of plastic bottles or other recycled materials constructed by artists and community-minded groups organizing recreational flotillas,or by environmentally concerned individuals seeking to draw attention to the problem of floating debris and the need for recycling. It can also be an improvised small,functional watercraft from readily available materials.
Debra Louise Searle MVO MBE,née Newbury,later Veal,is a British adventurer,businesswoman,author and keynote speaker. Searle is famous for having rowed across the Atlantic alone after her then husband and rowing partner,Andrew Veal,was rescued from their plywood rowing boat.
Chris Martin is a British rower.
Tenacity on the Tasman is a 2009 documentary film about adventurer Olly Hicks's attempt to circumnavigate the world in a rowboat. The film premiered at the ODEON Leicester Square on November 19,2009,becoming the first independently distributed documentary to premiere at the theater. The film was produced and directed by independent filmmaker George Olver through his production company Pendragon Productions,and distributed globally as part of the Adventure Film Festival.
Mick Dawson is a former Royal Marine Commando,film maker,professional sailor and adventurer. He is best known for rowing the Pacific Ocean with friend and fellow ocean rower Chris Martin in a new state of the art vessel,Bojangles,which Mick built. In 2009,they completed their 7,000 mi (11,000 km) voyage in 189 days 10 hours and 55 minutes;a world first and earning a place in the Guinness Book of records.
James Ketchell is a British adventurer. On 1 February 2014,Ketchell became the first person to complete the triathlon of rowing across the Atlantic Ocean,summiting Mount Everest and cycling around the world. On 22 September 2019,Ketchell landed his gyrocopter in Basingstoke,England,becoming the first person to circumnavigate the globe in an autogyro,flying for 175 successive days.
Angela Madsen was an American Paralympian sportswoman in both rowing and track and field. In a long career,Madsen moved from race rowing to ocean challenges before switching in 2011 to athletics,winning a bronze medal in the shot put at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. Madsen and teammate Helen Taylor were the first women to row across the Indian Ocean. She died in June 2020 while attempting a solo row from Los Angeles to Honolulu.
Aurelia Margaret Ditton,also known as Lia Ditton,is a British professional sailor,ocean rower,motivational speaker and conceptual artist.
Anders Johan Svedlund,,was a Swedish born,naturalized New Zealand ocean rowing pioneer. Anders performed 2 of 14 Historic ocean rows listed by Ocean Rowing Society,the official Guinness Adjudicator for ocean rowing. He was the first to row the Indian Ocean,the first to row on the Pacific solo,and the fastest ocean rower of his times.
Kiko Matthews is a British adventurer. On 22 March 2018,she became the fastest female to row the Atlantic,solo and unsupported. Matthews rowed the 3284 miles from La Gomera to Port St. Charles,Barbados in 49 days 7 hours and 15 minutes. She took over a week off the previous record held since 2002 by Anne Quemere.
Ocean Rowing Society International (ORSI) (prior to 2006 known as ORS),is the governing body for international ocean rowing and official adjudicator of ocean rowing records for Guinness World Records. ORSI was founded in 1983 in California by ocean rower Peter Bird and Kenneth F.Crutchlow FRGS. Current coordinators of ORSI are Tatiana Rezvaya-Crutchlow and Chris Martin,and Fiann Paul.
