Wood is sponsoring a Royal Navy team that plans to row the Atlantic Ocean to raise money for mental health charities.
Four submariners and their boat – HMS Oardacious – are taking part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, which is reckoned to be the world’s toughest rowing race. Starting in December, they will make a 3,000-mile, month-long unsupported crossing from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in the Caribbean.
Clive White, President of Wood Nuclear, said: “We admire the courage and commitment of the HMS Oardacious team and we are proud to sponsor them. “Wood has supported the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarines since the first boat was designed in 1958. Many of our colleagues who do this work are themselves former members of the Royal Navy and in many ways we feel like an extended part of Royal Navy team. We share many of the same values with the Navy – those of care, courage and commitment.”
Team leader Lieutenant Hugo Mitchell-Heggs visited Birchwood Park and gave a presentation to 100 Wood employees. He said: “Our culture as submariners seems like the perfect preparation for the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, but we wouldn’t be able to take part in the race without the support of Wood and our other sponsors.”
The team, which also includes Lieutenant Callum Fraser, Petty Officer Dylan Woods and Able Rate Matty Harvey, aims to be first across the finish line in Antigua’s Nelson’s Dockyard and hopes to raise more than £100,000 to provide mental health and well-being support for submariners and their dependents, in collaboration with the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.
Rowing for two hours and then sleeping for two hours, 24 hours a day, the team will get through 1.5 million oar strokes, coping with waves up to 20 feet high. Each rower will burn more than 5,000 calories per day and lose an average of 15 kilograms during the crossing.
Wood employees at Birchwood Park in Warrington are taking the HMS Oardacious challenge – to row 50 kilometers as fast as possible. A rowing machine will be set up in Building 305 on five dates between now and December, and about 30 volunteers have agreed to attempt the challenge, with each person rowing five kilometers in relays.
Organiser Alistair Coates said: “I am hoping to have female, male and mixed teams, with an emphasis on participation rather than ultimate performance. The Birchwood Park gym, Alive and Well, has kindly offered free access to their rowing machines to allow participants to prepare for their challenge.”
Pictured with HMS Oardacious on a visit to Birchwood Park are (left to right): Rear Admiral Keith Beckett, Director Submarines Support at the Submarine Delivery Agency; Clive White, President of Wood Nuclear; and Lieutenants Callum Fraser and Hugo Mitchell-Heggs.
