University of Plymouth RC charity challenge
The University of Plymouth Rowing Club (UPRC) recently completed a charity endeavour to beat a ferry travelling 119 miles from Roscoff, France to Plymouth, England. The group made up of 13 members, shared the rowing duties upon two rowing machines, whilst aboard the ferry itself.
The Club set out to raise at least £1000 for The Stroke Association with money being collected on the ferry, by campaigners back at the University and via their ‘JustGiving’ page www.justgiving.com/uprc4stroke.
Whilst setting up the machines on the ferry it became apparent the row was going to be a lot harder than previously anticipated. Three metre swells and constant movement of the boat was going to make the challenge quite difficult.
Interest and donations from passengers on the ferry was positive, with plenty of encouragement helping each member to complete their rowing stint to the best of their ability, as water conditions worsened. One team member Tom Webb admitted he, “never knew you would be able to feel the waves that bad”.
After an hour and twenty minutes of the race and having realised they’d already covered the distance from Dover to Calais, the rowers were 1.4 miles ahead of the ferry.
Despite the fact they had hardly slept, suffered illness, had various injuries and at times had to crawl away from the machine, the University of Plymouth Rowing Club beat the Brittany Ferry by an hour and a half.
As a team they rowed in total for more than four hours and raised a total of £1093.77.
If you have been inspired by the UPRC charity challenge, you can also contribute to the cause at www.justgiving.com/uprc4stroke.
Media Release
Matthew Ord
