Lyme Regis Ocean Rowing Club
Lyme Regis Gig Club has a small team of ocean rowers, four of whom ‘The Corinthians’ Chris ‘Darby’ Walters, Elliot Dale, Brian Fletcher and Tony Short, with a combined age of 226 years completed the 3,000 mile ocean row from La Gomera to Barbados in 48 days, 8 hours and 3 minutes in the Taliska Whisky Altantic Challenge 2011/2012. Tony Short, who turned 67 during the crossing, is the oldest man to row the Atlantic.
Looking for a new challenge, ‘Darby’ and Elliot, both aged 55, set off from New York on the 7th June 2014 to row their boat ‘Row 4 Precious Lives’ the 3,246 nautical miles back to the Isles of Scilly.
Only the second pairs rowing team ever to cross the Atlantic on this difficult route, Chris and Elliot followed in the footsteps of the historic rowing pair, George Harbo and Frank Samuelson who crossed the Atlantic in just 55 days back in 1896. The Lyme team in their Rannoch pairs boat, ‘Row 4 Precious Lives’, battled the most atrocious weather conditions to arrive at St Mary’s in the Isles of Scilly at 10.34 GMT on 6th August 2014 after an incredible 60 days, one hour and 6 minutes at sea.
Chris and Elliot have set a new pairs rowing record for crossing the Atlantic in a modern ‘open class’ pairs boat to achieve a momentous milestone in rowing history. The rowers were joined on their final few miles by a flotilla of local boats including amongst others the St Marys Lifeboat and St Mary’s and Lyme Regis Gig Clubs. Once in sight of the harbour they were serenaded in by Frank Sinatra’s ‘New York’. Greeted first by Dale Clark, The Harbourmaster and then by family members, the project team, staff and trustees from sponsors Children’s Hospice South West for whom Chris and Elliot and their epic row was raising money.