Image shows James (front) and Ben (back) practicing - courtesy of the Atlantic Rowing Race

Ben Fogle and James Cracknell complete the Across Atlantic Challenge

Radio communications company Icom would like to congratulate TV Presenter Ben Fogle and Olympic Rower James Cracknell in completing their epic challenge to cross the Atlantic in a rowing boat, the Spirit of EDF Energy.

They completed the challenge in under 50 days and achieved an amazing first in their class and finished third overall.
The pair raised money for Children In Need

Their adventure started on 30 November 2005 when they and 25 other boats set off from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to row Christopher Columbus's famous route across the Atlantic to Antigua, some 2,900 miles away in the West Indies.

The purpose built ocean rowing boat that the pair spent 50 days in was just 23ft long. Alongside food, emergency water rations, safety equipment and GPS, Ben & James found room to fit an Icom IC-M421 fixed VHF/DSC transceiver and an IC-M87, emergency handheld VHF transceiver in the tiny cabin.

Ben said “The radios were fantastic. We used them to speak to other transatlantic traffic to alert them to our whereabouts and stop them running our tiny rowing boat over! We used the fixed radio to speak to cargo ships and tankers and to communicate with the Antiguan coastguard once we were within twenty miles of their waters who in turn alerted race officials to our whereabouts and ETA”.

The weather conditions for this event were less than favourable and the crews had to battled against three low pressure systems, two tropical storms and the tail end of a hurricane, causing all sorts of problems with a number of dramatic capsizes and near misses.

Ben and James had their own near miss on the 10th of January when their boat flipped over after a wave hit them from behind, throwing Ben from the boat and flipping James upside down in the cabin. The pair carried on despite losing their satellite phone, GPS and sea anchor and the breaking of the water desalinator and one of the rowing positions during the capsize.

One thing they could rely on were the radios. “The radios were incredibly reassuring throughout the race, especially after we capsized and lost our GPS and satellite phone they became our only form of communication. With the radios we could still speak to another of the boats, Atlantic 4, who were able to relay sat phone messages to our families letting them know that we were safe and well which was an immense relief to all”.

James and Ben filmed their voyage for BBC documentary ‘Through Hell and High Water, which is to be aired this month. This is when you can find out exactly how tough it is to row across the Atlantic.

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