A north-east duo aiming to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic to raise funds for a north-east children’s charity have smashed a world record.
Robert Strachan and Duncan Adamson Brown are hoping to row from La Gomera in the Canary Islands across the Equator to the Bahamas as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge this December.
The “Rowing for Rascals” pair, both from Torry, both work as personal trainers at Aberdeen’s Pure Gym and will undertake the journey in their boat, the Papa Delta, to raise funds for the Archie Foundation.
They have already reached an impressive milestone after the pair set a new world record for the longest distance covered on a rowing machine with a distance of 227 miles reached at a challenge in Newcastle last month. The previous record was 223 miles.
The team have so far raised around £2,000 each for Archie – which helps support the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital – and their other chosen cause, Great Ormond Street Hospital.
They have set their sites on a £100,000 target for the two charities, but still need to raise a further £20,000 for equipment before they can undertake the mammoth challenge this winter.
Mr Strachan, 34, and Mr Brown, 28, both row for the Aberdeen Boat Club, based in Torry.
Mr Strachan said: “About two to three years ago we decided we were going to row across the Atlantic, and the past two years we have been fundraising and getting everything together. And now it is coming together.
“We actually watched the DVD of James Cracknell and Ben Fogle, they did it in 2005. That must have been around 2010 and we said we’d do it then.
“The reason we are doing this for Archie and Great ormond Street is I have asthma and had respiratory problems when I was young. I was one of those kids at school, and so was Duncan. We have changed things around.
“We have had quite a bit of experience rowing, seven to eight years rowing each, we started at university and have been going since then.
“We have been out rowing a bit, experiencing doing it. It is going to be a big adventure.”
The pair hope the journey – considered one of the toughest races on earth – will take them between forty and fifty days to complete, with the pair rowing in two-hour shifts for its duration.
They have launched a campaign to help raise the £20,000 they need to make the trip a reality, which can be found at:
http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/rowingforrascals