2 Cork men will join their 4 international crewmates and set out from the Port de Plaisance Marina in Agadir in an attempt to row 5000km across the Atlantic Ocean to Bridgetown in Barbados.
The voyage will be the first to use Agadir as a start port for an ocean row and will be only the second ever ocean rowing voyage to start from a Moroccan port.
Transatlantic ocean rowing voyages from east to west have traditionally started from the Canary Islands but in March 1981, Curtis and Kathy Saville – an American husband and wife – chose Casablanca as a suitable start port for their row and so became the first ocean rowing crew to start an ocean rowing voyage from Morocco. The Savilles arrived safely in Antigua in the West Indies 89 days later.
And so to January 2010, a joint Irish/British/Swedish/Canadian crew skippered by Matt Craughwell (an Englishman of Irish descent), Peter Williams (Ireland), Mylène Paquette (Canada), Mike Jones (Ireland), Pedro Cunha (Sweden) and James Kenworthy (England) will depart from the Moroccan Port of Agadir to row to Bridgetown, Barbados in the Caribbean – a voyage estimated to take between 40 and 50 days.
“We are choosing Agadir as our start point as we followed the Transat Classique Yacht Race last year which started from Agadir and were most impressed with the suitability of Agadir as a start port for a transatlantic voyage. Not only that, the idea of being the first ocean rowing crew to depart from Agadir is something that really appeals to us too” said Irishman Peter Williams. “Interestingly, while we will be only the second ever ocean rowing voyage to start an east to west crossing of the Atlantic from Morocco, a staggering 213 ocean rowing voyages have left from the Canary Islands.” (statistics courtesy of the Ocean Rowing Society International)
“Should we have a successful departure from Agadir, we will undoubtedly act as a stimulus for future ocean rowers to use a Moroccan port as their start point also. Then perhaps, the port towns of Morocco - like the port towns of the Canary Islands – will have a chance to showcase their ports to the world,” added Skipper Matt Craughwell. “We hope that our voyage will capture the imagination of the locals and tourists in Agadir and we hope for a big send-off on the day we depart. The Port de Plaisance Marina received great publicity for its involvement with the Transat Classique yacht race last year and we hope to create another spectacle in January given the uniqueness of our voyage - it is not every day that a crew rows across an ocean!”
The crew’s boat ‘Sara G’ is a specially designed ocean rowing boat that has already been rowed from New Zealand to Australia in 2007. The boat has three rowing positions on the deck thus catering for a crew of 6 - 3 rowing while 3 rest. The shift pattern will be set at a grueling 2 hours on/2 hours off regime meaning each crew member will row for 12 hours a day. The boat is provisioned to be fully self-contained and unsupported for a 50 day voyage and will utilise its own water desalination machine to produce drinking water for the crew. 
The boat will also contain a complete inventory of modern safety, communication and navigation equipment. Matt Craughwell – the crew’ skipper – describes the boat as: “a fast, slick ocean rowing boat with all the equipment of a modern yacht. The only difference between our boat and a yacht is that we won’t have a sail or engine to help us along – just our strength and determination to reach Barbados.” Added to that, Craughwell said, “we have a very strong crew - each of whom brings a unique skill set to the crew. I am confident that we will succeed.”
The row starts in early January 2010 and should conclude before the end of February 2010.
The Crew:
L to R: Mylène Paquette (Canada), Peter Williams (Cork, Ireland – 2nd in Command), Matt Craughwell (England – Skipper), Mike Jones (Cobh, Cork, Ireland), Pedro Cunha (Sweden), James Kenworthy (England)
Peter Williams is 26 and is from Cork City in Ireland. In January 2009, Peter was also part of the 14-man ‘La Mondiale’ crew who attempted to break the world record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean (E-W). Unfortunately, 1000 miles across, the row had to be abandoned due to losing the boat’s rudder. This was most unfortunate as the crew was 3 days ahead of record pace schedule at the time. Peter has been rowing since he was 15 and has won numerous rowing titles in Ireland as well as representing Ireland in rowing at u-18 level. As well as rowing, Peter has run numerous marathons and ultra marathons. Peter is also the first and only person to have ran around the Republic of Ireland’s largest lake – Lough Corrib.
Mike Jones, 29, from Cobh, Co. Cork in Ireland, works as the Operations Manager for the University of Limerick Activity Centre. Mike grew up in the historic port town of Cobh and with a fisherman as a father it was inevitable that he would at some stage take to the ocean. Throughout his youth he was a very active member of the local sea scouts where he learned invaluable seamanship skills while at the same time developing a hunger for adventure. Over the past 18 years Mike has been feeding that hunger with, sailing, kayaking and mountaineering adventures all over the world. Mike also participates in triathlons and adventure races and is an active member of the Irish Coast Guard (in the renowned Killaloe unit) - qualified as both a ‘D’ Class and RIB Coxswain.
