Sailors Norman and James Beech hope to enter the record books
Jul 2 2009 by Paul Suart, Birmingham Mail
INTREPID sailors Norman and James Beech are hoping to become Britain’s first father and son team to row 30,000 miles across the Atlantic in a 25ft boat.
Norman Beech, manager of the University of Birmingham’s outdoor pursuits centre in the Lake District, and 18-year-old James, who plans to study at the University of Birmingham like his father, are already in training and have conducted a 24-hour row to prepare for the epic Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Challenge.
Not content at simply finishing the gruelling adventure from La Gomera in the Canaries to Antigua in the West Indies, the daredevil duo hope to beat the father and son trans-Atlantic record of 78 days while James also hopes to become the youngest rower to complete the challenge.
Norman, who turns 50 three days after they depart on December 6, said: “There’s a good deal of unknown even though we have found out a lot about the challenge.
“The big challenge will be when the weather is particularly severe.
“There will be a sense of isolation being that far away and just being humbled by the power of the elements.”
Just to make matters more interesting the fearless pair from Conistan in Cumbria are embarking on the monumental mission in a vessel smaller some than some of the waves and sharks they will inevitably encounter.
The self-righting 6ft-wide boat, which weighs only 300kg unladen, is being specially built from scratch thanks to money Norman and James have generated through fundraising exercises and cash donated by various businesses but they still need a further £9,000 for a navigation system.
Training preparations and the actual trip itself will be filmed for a documentary likely to be screened on TV. To take advantage of the potential TV coverage Norman and James are selling to companies advertising space on the boat to raise cash for Water Aid.
