OV’s Atlantic Challenge Progress

Many readers will know that OV Lara Vafiadis (Os 06-08) is taking part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge . The race route starts in La Gomera, Canary Islands and ends 3,000 miles (4,800 Km) later in Antigua. Lara’s sister, Lotty, has kindly shared this update on Lara’s progress as she tackles this incredible yet inspiring physical and mental challenge:

Lara has now officially passed the halfway mark! With under 1200 nautical miles to go now, she’s doing amazingly well.

We (family and friends) have been following her progress closely; as you can imagine, it’s pretty anxiety-inducing stuff having your sister out in the middle of the Atlantic. We are all so proud of her endeavours!

Lara has really shown true grit and determination and faced some major challenges along the way, but I think she’s now turned a (metaphorical!) corner and is churning out some of the biggest mile days we’ve seen since she started. This week she’s topped 55 NM a day, which , is particularly impressive for a solo rower (teams of 2+ can take it in turn to row or rest/eat so never stop).

If I’m totally honest, Lara hasn’t had an easy ride since she departed La Gomera on Monday 12th December 2022, but then they don’t call it “the world’s toughest row” for nothing. But she has perhaps had a more difficult time than others for the simple reason that our father only passed away in September, so she hasn’t had the time and space needed to allow herself to grieve properly . And yet she knew she had to carry on, never give up, and do him proud, raising money for three incredible charities: Prostate Cancer UK, Plan UK and Our Only World Cornwall. By rowing in our father’s memory for Prostate Cancer UK, Lara is not only raising more awareness about this deadly and indiscriminate disease, when it is still such a taboo and widely undiscussed subject amongst men, but is also raising vital funds to help find a cure for cancer and help more men to survive.

Week One saw some pretty terrible sea sickness, meaning she was rowing whilst throwing up for 5 days. And yet she carried on.

Week Two she saw in Christmas whilst alone and isolated on the ocean. Grieving hard, but rowing hard too.

Week Three was probably the most horrendous any of us can remember – a huge storm, uncharacteristic for this time of year in that area of the ocean, meaning she was battling 40ft waves, having to batten down the hatches (for real) and wait it out whilst not being able to row (or really leave the cabin) for 5 whole days. Ocean rowers liken being locked inside the cabin as being in a human washing machine. Imagine that claustrophobia. There’s an air vent so in theory air can still get in, but the reality is that water from the waves also gets in, meaning everything becomes damp and humid. She couldn’t really eat or drink much as every time she needs the loo she’d have to get her bucket and empty it into the ocean, so she ended up getting quite dehydrated and low on energy during that time. And when the 40ft waves come crashing down onto the boat it’s deafening, sounding like thunder or a train coming right at you.

Week Four saw the boat capsize! Luckily she was in the safety of her cabin at her time. But for an agonising few moments, as the whole boat goes upside down, everything in her cabin gets tossed around and she has to trust the boat that it’ll self-right. Poor Lara had most of her shorts pegged on the safety line outside to dry out, which she lost during the capsize. She has very few items of clothing with her so it was unhelpful to lose these. She also lost her eating bowl which she shed a tear over: out in the ocean these things suddenly become a big deal.

And then in terms of equipment, it’s been a case of everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong. Just remember  that this is an unassisted row: if something critical were to go wrong to compromise her safety, there is a support yacht, but this at least a 7-10 day sail away. She is the maintenance crew; she has to fix it all herself. She’s had it all:

• blocked bilge pump (with a flying fish) – she had to crawl along deck in the pitch black of night to unblock it; it couldn’t wait until morning light as the bilge pump is what pumps out all water from the boat, ensuring she doesn’t sink!
• autohelm failure (the system that helps keep her on course for Antigua)
• water leaking into her tool department, meaning essential tools started to rust
• power failure – storms / cloud cover have meant the solar panels have not been able to charge up the batteries, resulting in complete power failure and going off grid / out of communication with family for a couple of days. Power failure also means her water purifying machine could not be operated, so she was dangerously low on drinking water.
• barnacle growth on the hull of the boat, resulting in slower speeds: every few days she has to get her goggles on and swim underneath the boat to scrape them off, ensuring of course that she’s clipped in so she doesn’t get swept away by strong currents

On a positive note, some key highlights include:

• Seeing a reef shark up close circling the boat – capturing it on camera – and stroking its back as it swam past. To be clear, this was also TERRIFYING in equal measure! Seeing other wildlife such as a pod of dolphins and several flying fish.
• Conquering her fear of deep water and getting in the water to clean off the barnacles that had grown on her hull in order to increase her speed.
• Singing at the top of her voice to lift her mood.
• Discovering that adding peanut butter to one of her hot meals – macaroni cheese – tasted much better and gave her a boost.
• Seeing a “moonbow” – like a rainbow but made by moonbeams.
• Enjoying the stars – being enveloped by wide uninterrupted cloudless open night skies and seeing all the stars and constellations in every direction she looked.
• Seeing the charity donations keep coming in week after week, knowing she is enduring all this physical pain (sore muscles everywhere, blisters on hands, sores caused by constantly damp clothing, let alone the fact she hasn’t stood up straight or walked for 2 months solid) ultimately for the sake of helping others in need

What we really, really want is to show people just how much she is enduring – ultimately for the sake of raising vital funds for these three incredible charities. Lara has been so brave to put her life at risk to do this!

We are so happy proud of Lara!

If you would like to know more about Lara’s fundraising, please do get in touch with us: alumni@ksw.org.uk