Win a Concept2 ergo!
We're giving away a custom red painted Concept2 Model D rowing machine
To help Team Never2Late achieve their goal of setting a new World Record in their journey across the Atlantic and in full support of their cause, we are organising a giveaway!
We will be choosing the lucky winner on 3rd of July to receive a fully custom red painted ergo.
To enter the draw, we will accept any donations starting at £5, but you can enter the draw more times by making multiple donations.
All profits will go to support Jim & Ian on their pursuit as well as their charities of choice (see below)
Help us support Never2Late on their Atlantic row
Talisker Whisky Atlantic Row Challenge 2023
World’s toughest row, where crews brave the open ocean in a race over 3,000 miles in length from the Canary Islands all the way to Antigua & Barbuda.
Taking up the challenge to row the Atlantic tests the limits of physical and mental strength; to achieve something unthinkable, challenging the perception of age as a limitation.
SUCCESSFUL CROSSING WILL BEAT THE WORLD RECORD FOR
THE OLDEST CREW EVER TO HAVE ROWED ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
Mission Statement
Read what inspired Jim Ronaldson and Ian Davies to take on this incredible challenge.
“We are two ordinary chaps in our sixties who are looking to do something quite extraordinary.
We are very fortunate to find ourselves in the position of being fit, healthy, and ready for adventure.
As such, we relish the idea of the physical and mental challenge of rowing more than 3,000 miles across the Atlantic, pushing ourselves to our limits to achieve something incredible.
By placing ourselves in a boat and rowing our way across open ocean in a journey which will take upwards of 50 continuous days, we seek to challenge preconceptions around age and inspire others to achieve the seemingly impossible.
In doing so, we will break the Guinness World Records for the oldest crew to row across the Atlantic, currently held by a four-person crew who competed in 2020, and the oldest all-male pair to row any ocean, last broken in 2018.”
You can read their full proposal by clicking this link.
Ian Davies (left) & Jim Ronaldson (right) at the 24 hour Charity Fundraiser Row in Westgate, Oxford
The Challenge
The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge brands itself as the world’s toughest row, in which crews brave the open ocean in a race over 3,000 miles in length, travelling west from San Sebastian in La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain to Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour, Antigua and Barbuda.
The idea of the Atlantic Challenge race came to Sir Chay Blyth whilst he was rowing the Atlantic Ocean in 1966 with John Ridgeway. It was a 92-day battle against hurricanes, 50-foot waves, and near-starvation. It is no surprise, then, that more people have been into space or climbed Mount Everest than have rowed the Atlantic. It takes a certain kind of person to keep going when faced with blisters, salt rash, sharks, and sleep deprivation.
Those who take up the challenge to row the Atlantic do so to test the limit of their physical and mental strength; to achieve something unthinkable. In taking on this formidable race, we seek not only to challenge ourselves, but to challenge the perception of age as a limitation. With an average crew age of 65.6 years, our successful crossing will beat the world record for the oldest crew to have rowed across the Atlantic Ocean.
Jim Ronaldson
Jim was born in Glasgow in 1956. He was very poorly as a young child, afflicted with asthma, bronchitis and pleurisy. Following medical advice, which suggested that a change of climate might help, his family moved to Canada. The move worked to improve Jim’s health, and when he was 13 the family moved back to the UK.
Jim has always loved sport and adventure. He began rowing in 1974 and soon was competing at a very high standard, winning international medals in the sport and getting to the semi-final of the Henley Royal Regatta. Jim broke his club’s win record with 24 regatta wins in one season, and took gold at both the National Championships (now the British Rowing Championships) and the World Rowing Master’s Regatta. He stopped racing when he lost his long-time rowing partner in 2012, but he still greatly enjoys the sport, rowing most Sundays and competing in head races with his local rowing club.
Never one to sit down for too long, Jim took up cycling and rode from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise money for Stoke Mandeville Hospital. He enjoyed this so much that the following year he did the same trip in reverse, cycling from John O’Groats to Land’s End. Jim stills cycles around 120 miles per week in addition to rowing in head races, always keeping fit for his next adventure.
In 2024, Jim will have been rowing for 50 years and working as a boatman/coach for 40 years. Recently, he has been shocked by news of a rise in mental health crises caused by the pandemic, especially in children and teenagers. He wants to do what he can to help them by raising money for mental health consultants and resources and highlighting the problem.
“I chose to row the Atlantic with Ian to show that no matter what age you are, if you have the will and mental strength you can do whatever you want.” – Jim.
Ian Davies
Ian is an ex-Warrant Officer (Class 1) in the REME with 27 years of service. He has served in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, completing Operational Tours in the Gulf, Bosnia, and Southeast Asia.
Ian’s forte is open water swimming, and he has completed a Solent Crossing, a Channel relay crossing, and the DART10. A week after his Channel Crossing, Ian was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer. He has received 18 months of treatment including two stem cell transplants, the last being in May 2021, and is now in complete remission.
However, while this cancer is treatable, it is not yet curable. Ian wants to show people that having cancer does not have to stop you from accomplishing amazing things.
Ian is no stranger to the Atlantic Challenge, having previously completed the gruelling journey with a four-man crew in 2019. Now, he joins Jim to take on the Challenge as a pair, traversing the Atlantic Ocean to raise money for mental health services for young people and achieve the world-record feat of being the oldest crew to have ever completed the Atlantic Challenge.
The Cause
Read what motivated Team Never2Late to support these charities.
Each year in the UK, approximately 5,700 people are diagnosed with myeloma, and there are around 24,000 people living with myeloma in the UK at any one time.
Myeloma UK is the only organisation in the UK dealing exclusively with this type of cancer, with the ultimate goal of finding a cure.
Since being established in 1997, Myeloma UK has helped those affected through research, advocacy, education, and the promotion of understanding. We would like our row across the Atlantic to help support this life-saving research.
The COVID-19 Pandemic has had a devastating impact on the mental health of young people in particular, many of whom have experienced increased feelings of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and isolation as well as a loss of coping mechanisms and/or motivation.
Disrupted schooling, loss of employment, the inability to socialise with friends and the bereavement of lost loved ones are triggering mental health conditions or exacerbating existing ones.
To combat this worrying trend, we are using our expedition to increase awareness on young mental health and are raising money for PAPYRUS, a charitable organization geared toward assisting young people with mental health issues and preventing young suicide.
Rowgear Support
We at Rowgear are very proud and happy to support Jim & Ian on their incredible pursuit for a World Record as well as the great charitable cause.
We wanted to help them raise more money on the way to their 20,000 goal, so we are giving away a custom painted red Concept2 Model D rowing machine to the lucky winner on 3rd of July.
You can enter the draw below.
Want to win a rowing machine?
Make a donation to enter the draw. All profits will go to Team Never2Late. Winner will be selected on 3rd of July.
