Richard and Helena Prepare for an Atlantic Adventure

Richard and Helena Smalman-Smith are about to undertake one of the toughest challenges in rowing when they attempt to cross the Atlantic in an epic journey that will see them travel some 2549 nautical miles.

The married couple will set off from a small island just west of Tenerife and will attempt to finish just outside Port St Charles in Barbados in a race that could take as long as 90 days.

The duo, who have been married for 18 years and met at their university rowing club, will spend Christmas and New Year out at sea as they raise money for two very deserving charities.

Have you ever done anything like this before - most people would start with a simple fun run?

We’ve never done anything this big, but just as marathon runners start with maybe a 5k fun run in the park, we’ve worked our way up to this, having both done the 50km “Boston Marathon” rowing race between Boston and Lincoln several times,  and also taken part in the 5-day, 205km Rallye du Canal di Midi in the South of France. Helena’s also twice done a 160km non-stop rowing race round Lake Geneva, which takes about 16 hours – although the water is rather flatter than it will be on the Atlantic!

What inspired you to first take up the challenge?

Helena was the Land Team for 2 friends who took part in the race in 2005, and were the main rivals for Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell and Ben Fogle that year. In the end, the Cracknell and Fogle finished just over a day ahead of our friends. Having been involved so closely with their crossing, the idea gets under your skin, and eventually the fears – both the physical ones, and the sheer cost of the expedition – started to be outweighed by the dream of crossing an ocean ourselves!

How have you prepared for such an epic voyage?

Meticulously! We’ve read every book on ocean rowing that exists, we have talked to many, many ocean rowers, we’ve spent quite a lot of time rowing in our boat off the South Coast, including at night, and we’ve done some rigorous training courses on ocean safety and sea survival as well as navigation. We’ve calculated the calories in our daily food packs, we’ve tested all of our equipment (OK, we never got round to trying out the anchor), and packed no end of spare parts.

What would it mean to you to be only the fourth married couple to ever complete the journey?

Taking on the challenge together definitely adds an extra level to a trip that inevitably is a huge thing in the lives of everyone who attempts it. And there’s no one we would more trust when the going gets tough than each other. And if we’re successful, it will be a wonderful shared experience to look back on for the rest of our lives!

What do you think will be the most difficult aspect of the race?

Psychologically, the hardest thing may well be the fact that the boat NEVER stops moving and the wind NEVER stops blowing. We won’t be able to get that nice feeling you have when you come home on a rough day and just shut the front door and sit down for 5 minutes of calm. We’re also concerned about the approach to Barbados – there are fearsome currents and winds round the island, and ocean rowing boats really aren’t manoeuvrable  in strong conditions - yachts use their engines at this point in a voyage! And, of course, this is an anxiety that we’ll have to carry the whole way across.

How are you going to cope with just each other for company for more than 50 days?

As busy people with demanding jobs who spend most of our weekends rowing, coaching , or running rowing events, we’re looking forward to spending time together when the only things on our To Do lists will be row, eat and sleep! Having said that, the fastest way to do the crossing is to take turns in rowing, doing alternating 2 hour shifts, so a lot of the time it’s be a case of “Here are the oars, darling, I’m going to bed!”

Are there any essentials that you will be taking with you, you must be worried about blisters and injuries?

Actually, we’re not worried about blisters at all, because the key to dealing with those is prevention. We’ve done so much rowing that our hands are quite calloused anyway, but we also know the importance of wearing gloves, and wrapping tape round your fingers at the first hint of tenderness. Actually getting a blister would indicate poor hand management!

What we’re much more worried about is getting salt water sores on our bottoms, and any other rubbing points caused by sweating in the sweltering conditions , and also getting sunburnt. There’s no option to stay out of the sun for a few days as you would if you got burnt on a hot day at home, or keep a rash cool and dry once it develops. So, again, prevention is vital! That’s why we’re so grateful that Fenton Pharmaceuticals have given us such a plentiful supply of Delph sun cream – we’ll never be concerned about stinting on reapplying it in case we run out, and we know it works and is easy to apply too.

We’ll also be using Fenton’s Lotil cream (www.lotil.co.uk) as a moisturiser – the ocean wind will really take it out on our skin, and as ocean rowers often row naked to avoid chafing from salty clothing, that means ALL of our skin is facing the elements, including quite a lot of bits that aren’t used to any exposure at all!

How will you end up celebrating Christmas on the boat? Will you do something special for the occasion?

Richard’s mum has taken on the task of providing us with Christmas dinner at sea, since she does this so well at home in other years! And we’ll be taking one piece of tinsel with us too. Some rowing friends have also given us a New Year’s eve party pack, which includes some charades cards, which they promise that they’ll be playing simultaneously at their own party that night! Having fun milestones like these to work towards can give a real psychological boost on a long trip like this, so we may need to in the dog days of January we’ll certainly be cracking open a packet of Jelly Babies at each 500 mile milestone or 10 degree line of longitude we cross..

What aspects are you more worried about, is it the physical or the mental side?

It’s generally said that ocean rowing is 10% physical and 90% psychological, and we’re definitely expecting that to be the case! One of the things that will most help us push on through the difficult times will be the thought of the money our row is helping to raise for two very deserving charities – St Mungo’s, the homelessness charity, and the Huntington’s Disease Association.

How will you celebrate when you finish, as you will be in the Caribbean?

With a VERY cold beer!


For more information on this epic voyage please visit www.AtlanticDouble.net