IT HAS been over one week since Sean McGowan, the Shannon Rowing Club oarsman, set out amongst his fellow competitors, to row the Atlantic and raise charity funds for the Sowetto Connection.
Having finally set out after over a four week delay, Sean’s opening week at sea has been one filled with as much weather as we have seen here in Limerick.
The opening stages of the race saw Sean and the crews benefit from brisk but favourable conditions. However, that would change after just two days and with South Westerly winds swinging true to the forecast, the fleet had to deploy their para-anchors (sea anchors).
Unfortunately, this weather change meant that the crews were far from making headway towards their finish line in Antigua. Two days of this endured that morale took its first beating and it was still only three days into the race.
Crews were able to head south again as the fleet leaders determined the course the race would take. Sean, sticking to his on shore goals at the race start, headed south in search of the trade winds and currents that would take him on a more favourable westerly passage later in the race.
At the seven day mark, the experienced crews in the race had made a decent dent in the 2,548 nautical miles to English Harbour in Antigua. Sean had clocked up 173 miles from the start in La Gomera with the 24 hours from 13:30 on January 11 to 13:30 on January 12 yielding 22 miles, his best daily total since the race began.
Sean and the entire fleet of solo and team oarsmen, have had to come to terms with their new grueling regimes, pushing their bodies to the very limits. It has often been suggested that the first week of these ultra endurance events are the hardest. This is when the body hurts the most, after these punishing opening days your mind really does take over and dominate the outcome. While all competitors are undoubtedly tired, it is the mind that tells you to carry on and blocks out the physical pain. While every time a competitor sits down it may hurt, or the first few minutes holding the oar may send pulses through the hands and wrists, the brain will ultimately cut these feelings out and accept that this is the way it will be. The body is a remarkable machine, one whose limits are still unknown.
Sean, grueling through this mental and physical battle, still gets messages of good luck every day from his fans, friends and family at home.
One of the best coming from Natalie McGowan posted on Tuesday morning, “Hi Sean, You must be rowing hard all night, great progress. Would you believe that the computer goes on here in the mornings before the kettle, shows you how addicted we are to ‘dot tracking’! Stay Safe”.
Regular posters to the message board on the Woodvale Race website are the Lyons Clan who urge and drive the well wishes from home with Sean, Ronan and Darragh, urging their Uncle Sean, “not to eat too many Mars bars” and to “save some for us”.
While still slightly hugging the North West African coast some 250 mile off shore, ‘Tess’ and Sean have now taken the turn right and are heading South Westerly towards Antigua.
Progress has improved and Sean will now focus on the pending weather patterns that are scheduled to arrive this week. Storms that were brewing on the US coastline have now shifted south and are expected to cross the rowers in the next seven days.
Post Sport will be linked via satellite phone to Sean this weekend where a live post will be on the website. Follow his race progress on www.limerickpost.ie and www.atlantic09.com.
