By
Rob Buchanan

I went down to North Cove today to watch the departure of two 23-year-old British rowers, Tom Rainey and Lawrence Walters, who are aiming to row across the North Atlantic in a 23-foot rowing boat called Yves. Their destination is Salcombe, Devon, about 3800 miles away. They expect the trip to take at least two months and have food on board for three. According to the organizers of the event, Ocean Valour, 60 crews have attempted the west-to-east crossing of the Atlantic, with 23 succeeding and five rowers lost at sea. The record from New York to the Scilly Islands, at the entrance to the English Channel, stands at 55 days. You can follow Rainey and Walters’ progress on the Ocean Valour website: http://www.oceanvalour.co.uk/; at midnight Sunday they were due south of Jones Beach making two knots to the east southeast.