Lymington Amateur Rowing Club team may have broken world record in epic Solent challenge

A TEAM of Lymington rowers is hopeful of having broken at least one of a string of world records it aimed for in an epic challenge.

The five-man crew from Lymington Amateur Rowing Club covered 122.4km in its Challenge-100 fundraiser on the Solent, battling the elements to see how far they could travel in 12 hours from 6.30am on Monday 23rd August.

If verified by Guinness World Records, it means they beat a record previously held by Russians for the furthest distance covered in 12 hours by over 2.5km.

As reported in the A&T, the team had hoped to break another two Russian-held records – the fastest to row 50 nautical miles and fastest to row 100 nautical miles.

On a route across Christchurch Bay and circumnavigating the Isle of Wight, it also aimed to take the round-the-Island record.

But difficulty caused by strong north-easterly winds on the day prompted Jack Mans, Rob Maltby, Alex Gasper, Dave Mans and Toby Backhouse to focus solely on the 12-hour record.

Dave said: “We were right up against the clock coming past Cowes and going into the last hour.

“The tide was fading fast and despite having rowed hard for over 11 hours it was all going to come down to a final push for the line.

“After some fantastic steering from coxswain Jack negotiating a large wash from a tanker and a tremendous effort from the whole crew we cleared the needles with moments to spare and the tide stayed with us just long enough to beat the Russian record.”

The club thanked all those who helped raise over £5,500 for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation which funds local sports organisations.

There was also support from local companies including Bradbeers, The Haven Bar, Bluebird Care, and Rowing Adventures Ltd.

For more information and to donate visit www.iow1250.co.uk