World rowing challenge fails after 48 hours

SOMETIMES what starts out as a hobby can become something of an obsession and leader of the ORCA II world rowing challenge Roy Finlay may suffer from this.

He is well known as the designer of twin hulled rowing boats and he has been trying for several years to break the record for the time to cross the Atlantic but unfortunately has failed on a number of occasions.

This time, his 10 man boat left the Canary Islands on December 14 with the intention of breaking the record and raising funds for the fight against Multiple Sclerosis but within two days, he came down with a serious kidney infection and the entire crew had to be evacuated by helicopter just 95 miles into their journey.

To add insult to injury, it is reported that the crew made such a hasty exit that they left their passports on board so apart from having to return home a lot earlier than anticipated, they also had to make arrangements to obtain emergency documentation.

It is not known at the time of writing whether the boat has been salvaged but as it was specially designed and manufactured it will have a significant value.