London2Paris Rowing Race Launched
A unique Rowing Race from London2Paris has been launched by well known British adventurer Jock Wishart. The race starts at Westminster Bridge and goes down the Thames and around the coast to Dover from where it crosses the Channel and then goes up the Seine to finish at the Eiffel tower:- a distance of 417 nautical miles.
The race for teams of 10 people will take place in matched Waterman’s Cutters in May 2008 and will be run over a series of timed stages on a points system thus providing a winner for each stage and a cumulative time for each boat and hence an overall winner:-it is expected that the race could last up to 7 days.
Team entries are invited although the organisers will also ask individual oarsmen and women to register and they will be introduced to other competitors to join an existing crew or form a new one.
A team of 10 rowers will be allowed to rotate in the 7 person (6 rowers/1 cox) boat and the cost of entry for each team will be £20,000 plus VAT.
Wishart, who has previously rowed the Atlantic has considerable expertise in running events of this nature and organises the well known biennial Polar Race to the Magnetic North Pole. The other principal members of the organising team are Malcolm Knight, the current World record holder for rowing the length of the Thames and Gary Walker, a member of the crew that currently holds the Round the World Powered record. All of them were members of the team that broke the record for rowing from London to Paris in 1999, so the organisers have considerable expertise.
Jock Wishart said "With over a 100 rowers having now rowed an ocean in the last 10 years and a growing public interest in participating in extreme endurance races we felt that there was a demand for an extreme rowing event that did not take up quite the amount of time as rowing an ocean and which was cheaper for individuals to participate in. We expect the interest to come from Rowing Clubs and the Corporate sector and also from individuals who have already rowed an ocean and are looking for another Challenge."
For further information on the event please see www.london2parisrowing.com
or ring Jock Wishart on 07711 727 298 or email jock@london2parisrowing.com