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| Atlantic rower’s bid for
a record west-east crossing |
Sharks circle boat as oarsman heads
home for pint with his mates
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Rower Olly Hicks: ‘My mates all think I’m nuts’
Rowing boat used for the Atlantic crossing
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STUCK in a boat, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by sharks?
That’s nothing if you’re Atlantic rower Olly Hicks.
Mr Hicks, 23, of Compton Terrace, Highbury, is shaping up to become
the youngest person to row the Atlantic from west to east.
He is almost halfway towards his target of raising £60,000
in sponsorship for charity Hope and Homes for Children, which finds
families for orphans from Europe and Africa.
He set off from New York on May 23, and hoped to arrive in Falmouth,
Cornwall within 62 days, but the wind has not been on his side.
Speaking to the Tribune via satellite phone from his boat Olive,
he said: “Progress could be better. The weather’s been
bad all the time and there’s been no west wind.”
Now 1,200 miles from Cornwall and almost two-thirds of the way through
his epic voyage, he has had some sticky encounters.
He said: “Some really big sharks came up to the boat in my
first month and started to nose the rudder. I was worried they would
take a bite out, and got ready to fight them off with an oar. Luckily
nothing happened and they just swam off.”
He is living on a diet of boil-in-the-bag beef and cod stew, and
was grateful when a passing ship dished out extra rations.
After months “on my jack”, the Atlantic rower is missing
his friends and the pub.
He said: “My mates all think I’m nuts, but I know they’re
checking my progress online, which is nice to know. And I’m
definitely looking forward to my first pint.”
It was while at exclusive boys’ school Harrow that he cooked
up the 3,000-mile trip. A graduate in countryside management at
Newcastle-upon-Tyne University, he plans to join the Army, and hopes
to go to Sandhurst.
To check his progress or to make a donation, go to www.virginrow.com.
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