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Over the last 24 hours I have sat with Kenneth talking about what it
takes to put together an Ocean Rowing campaign and the said individual
being the passionate facilitator of the sharing of information that he
is, has implored me to write some of my thoughts on the subject, from
our experiences of actually doing a row and from the point of preparing
for a row, including this year. There is much to discuss!
Firstly, please don’t take what I say here for granted. I do not profess
to being an expert in any aspect, these are simply some of the things we
have done in our campaigns that may have made difference. It is
important you explore different ways to do things yourself, that way you
may find a slight advantage that others may have missed. Ultimately
there is no ‘right way’ to do things, there is your way and their way
and any which way, but there is one way that is the best way and
goodness only know what way that is – wahay!
The first priority, numbero uno is the delirious del’arjon (sp?), the
precious pinga, the salacious spondoulie. For example, you can spend
hours on the phone soliciting free or cost price goods, services and
materials which is great if you can get it, but at the end of the day
cash is king – after all there is a large entry fee that needs to be
paid! To say you will put a sponsors logo on the boat is all very well
but it rarely gives them any real tangible return on their investment.
Yet there is no doubt that many companies/individuals will contribute
for the ‘feel good’ factor involved. To that end, if you are relying
heavily on this type of support, you will need to service the needs of
these supporters with some personal touches that makes them feel a part
of the project eg mentions in newsletters etc – basic I know but very
important. The same goes for a more commercial arrangement but a more
targeted approach is needed, one where the sponsor gets quantifiable
return on their dollar spend. A suggestion might be to approach an
advertising agency (eg Saatchi and Saatchi etc – if you know someone in
the industry then all the better) and see if they have clients who might
fit somehow with what you are trying to achieve. All that good stuff
like ‘against the odds’, endurance, calculated risks, energy, team work,
motivation, planning, etc. A concept you could put to the agency is to
see if RST company will commit to spend X pounds/dollars with a media
organisation (eg TV, print, radio), go to that media outfit and tell
them you have got this money your anonymous client wishes to spend with
them, and ask them to pass some of that money onto your campaign. You
effectively become a sales rep for the media organisation and that group
along with the company spending the money and the advertising agency
effectively all become sponsors of your campaign. Confused? Another way
you could do it is approach the media organisation first and say you are
going to find a company that will spend $$$ with you and ask for a cut,
as above, say 70% (aim high). This way you may be able to bypass the
agency to avoid extra negotiation and by in, all very very time
consuming. This will give a quantifiable return to the sponsor before
you have done anything and thereby minimized the risk of the investment
involved!
Probably the first point of call should be your close acquaintances and
their associates. It is a case of, it’s not what you know but who you
know that can open the doors to sponsorship. A classic case occurred
recently where a soon to be ocean rower, who is about to embark on a
solo row from New York to the UK, is getting sponsored by Richard
Branson of Virgin fame. This after nearly everyone had tried to tap into
the billionaire adventurers fortune, including myself! The point of
difference for Branson on this sponsorship was the fact that the rower
went to school with his daughter! So go forth and seek your fortunes
with your old school buddies, work colleagues etc.
On the assumption that funds have been secured the next most important
issue is getting the boat into race condition. I should perhaps make the
distinction here that I am talking about a boat that will allow the
rower to cross an ocean as fast as possible. The first stage to this is
to not ‘over build’ the vessel. It happens time and time again where
boat builder ‘professionals’ add a bit of strengthening here and another
bit there, the only good reason being because, “That’s what I’d do if it
were me.” To me that’s not good enough. Most of the boats that I have
seen turn up at the start of the previous Atlantic Rowing Race’s have
been majorly over built. For example, many have had a layer or two of
fibre glass (or some other material) over the plywood hull. I stress
this is only my opinion but to me it seems completely over the top,
especially, as I say, if you want to cross as fast as possible within
the parameters of the rules. I do not know what the weights of the boats
were when they were checked by the Challenge Business aficionados before
the 2003 race but I would stake my left goolie on most of them being 20
to 50 kg over the minimum weight. – that statement could come back to
bite me on the arse, so to speak, but I reckon it’s true.
The next most important element in the boats preparation is the set-up
of the rowing position. This includes the length of oars, inboard, pin
placement – both width and separation between bow and stroke seats, seat
height – and comfort (not to be underestimated), foot position relative
to the finishing position of the oars handles, and oar handle thickness
(again not to be underestimated, much to our peril). This requires much
experimentation and development to meet the individuals requirements but
it is well worth spending the time on this most important aspect, after
all you are going to be spending at least half you time at sea sitting
there so get it right in training and development.
A quick note on training. You HAVE to row as much as possible, whether
it be on the machine or, preferably, on the water. Row! Row! Row! You
need to get all your muscles, tendons and joints used to rowing and
there is only one way to that. The more at sea the better. Enough said.
There are a squillian of other things that then need attention including
diet, training, navigation (which by now is pretty obvious, just follow
the previous fastest courses. With the finish line alteration there
needs to be a slight deviation from this course but not much) etc, it
goes on and on. The more testing the better. This reminds me of an
article written by Richard Wood:
“A 7 foot parachute would be adequate but Alby recommended 9 foot
which is what we took. Rumour has it that the Kiwi team did extensive
tests and took a 12 foot chute but you would have to ask them if this is
correct. I personally think that is overkill but each to their own! The
chute is attached to a 120 metre length of 3 strand nylon line with a
stretching capacity of 50% when fully loaded. This takes out any
snatching and makes for a far more comfortable ride in heavy weather. In
Rob Hamil’s book he cut this length to 70 metres but Alby reckoned this
was far to short and would set up uncomfortable snatching and could
present problems with wavelengths. The line need only be 8mm, I took
12mm which was really unnecessary and added to the weight.”
It was a fair call by Richard in suggesting it was overkill to take
the 12 footer because before we tested them I was of the same opinion.
But, surprise surprise, there was a significant difference in
performance between the 9ft and 12ft versions. We did a test using the
two Telecom boats sitting to in a 15 to 20 knot breeze. After about 15
minutes the boat using the 9 footer had drifted about 300m to 400m back
from the boat using the 12 footer. At that point we ceased the test as
it was plainly clear that the 12 footer gave a significant advantage. A
simple test that could potentially gain you 10s of miles per day against
a lesser prepared crew who may have opted for the 9 footer.
There is soooo much to write about on the subject of preparing for the
rowing of an ocean but I’ve gotta go have breakfast. However, I will
leave you with this thought: if you are not already doing it, try and
work full-time on the project as soon as possible. At best you will have
a nice employer who might support some of your costs along the way. At
worst you will have to resign. If you want to do well in the race you
need to do this. If your objective is to simply complete the row (and I
say that with the greatest of respect) then it may not be quite as
essential to work full time on the campaign.
If anyone would like to email me I am happy to discuss further but
please bare in mind that it may, and often does, take days sometimes
weeks (and I have been known to take months) to respond. I am also happy
to discuss on the phone but please get the time zones right.
Good luck and God’s speed!
Rob Hamill |
