Thomas Cremona is aiming to become the first Maltese person to row across the Atlantic Ocean on the Sarah G, when he sets off with a six-man team from Morocco to Barbados, a distance of over 5,000km.
He also intends to set a world record.
The Atlantic Ocean Row Team will be attempting to break the mid-Atlantic rowing speed record on the Sara G, a six-man sculling boat.
The record currently stands at 33 days, seven hours and 30 minutes, established in January 2008 and held by La Mondiale, a boat built in the early 1990s. It was a 14-man boat, skippered by Leven Brown.
The first ocean to be deliberately rowed was the Atlantic by Frank Samuelson and George Harbo, two Americans born in Norway, in June 1896.
This sport of ocean rowing, is as much a psychological as it is a physical challenge. Rowers often have to endure long periods at sea with help often many days away.
The Atlantic Ocean Row Team 2011 aim to depart from southern Morocco in early January, subject to weather conditions. Skipper and boat owner, Matt Craughwell , 32, will lead the team.
He is the most experienced crew member having skippered Sara G through her first crossing of the Atlantic. He also took part in the failed La Mondiale crossing.
Attempts by La Mondiale to improve this record proved unsuccessful and in 2009, she was subsequently lost at sea. Matt, will be in charge of logistics but will also be rowing.
Although all members of the team have been in contact regularly, they have never met.
They will be divided into two teams who will be competing unofficially with each other to beat one another with best rowing times.
Mr Cremona’s principal goals in participating are:
* to become the first Maltese to have rowed across the Atlantic;
* to attempt to break La Mondiale’s record;
* to raise funds for Puttinu Cares; and
* to raise awareness of cancer patients and survivors.
A cancer survivor himself, he said that “cancer can be part of your history but should not control your future".
WHO IS THOMAS CREMONA?
Thomas J. Cremona is 22, from Swieqi, Malta. He has participated in several challenges including LifeCycle 2006, cycling over 2,000 kilometres in 10 days, in aid of the national renal unit.
Having been diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia at the age of four, his driving ambition for the 2011 Atlantic row is to raise awareness that there is life after cancer.
To keep updated on his ‘Row4Cancer’ campaign visit www.oceanrowmalta.com.
THE SARA G
The Sara G is a six-man sculling boat, 11.1m long with a 1.8m beam. She was built in 2007, with three sculling positions on the deck. It displaces about 1,750kg when fully loaded.
The hull is made of Duflex – a composite material with balsa core sandwiched between fibreglass sheeting. The entire boat is then wrapped in fibreglass for additional rigidity.
Sara G is provisioned to be fully self-contained and unsupported for a 60-day voyage. The boat will utilise its own water desalination machine and will also have 300 litres of fresh water ballast stored in four litre containers.
The desalinator relies on electrics but there is also a manual pumping capacity in the event of power failure.
Power is generated by six solar panels.
On December 30, 2007, the Sara G smashed the 67-day record for crossing the Tasman Sea from New Zealand to Australia, coming in at 32 days with 10 days under sea anchor.