Loss of Ocean rower-boat design

Bajansailor

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My pal Stein set off from New York in the summer of 2016 to row to England in his Woodvale rowing boat, at the grand old age of 70.
His passage is documented on his Facebook page below.
Stein Hoff - Atlantic Row 2016
He has been rowing his whole life, and he took part (two handed) in the first Woodvale transatlantic race in 1997, followed by a solo row from Lisbon to Guyana a few years later, so he pretty much knew what he was letting himself in for.
However this was the North Atlantic this time......
After about 80 days out I think he was about 800 miles from Lands End when he got caught up in a storm - the only thing to do then is to deploy the sea anchor, retreat inside the cabin and batten down. Which worked for a while until his sea anchor cable broke, and then he was broadside to the waves, and he was repeatedly rolled (like being inside a washing machine), while still inside the little aft cabin. Some times the boat would stay upside down for what must have seemed an eternity before the wave action righted her again.
When things quietened down a bit he was able to survey the damages, and found all four of his oars were broken, so no progress other than drifting was now possible.
So he activated his EPIRB, and a large (200,000 ton) Oldendorff bulk carrier came along and picked him up in a superb act of seamanship manoeuvering themselves alongside his little rowing boat. The seas were still pretty big, and I think that they did not want to risk their crew's safety by launching their rescue boat to pick him up.
Stein ended up back in New York again (as this was where the ship was going to), and the boat was found a few months later washed up on a gravelly beach in the far north of Norway.
 
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