The Ocean5

Sunday training row in some very calm November conditions. Bonus points for anyone who can recognise the landmark in the background??

Yesterday’s training row in some very calm November conditions. Bonus points for anyone who can name the landmark in the background?

We’re excited to announce that our chosen charity for the 2025 Worlds Toughest Row - Pacific is !

Visit www.theocean5.com to find out more 💪🚣‍♀️

Ocean5 will be rowing again in the summer of 2025. The arena this time around…the Pacific Ocean.

More information on the boat, the team, the training, the charity, all to follow in due course.

We’re so back 😎

40m Private/Charter Motor Yacht seeking Deckhand for a permanent position. 38 days leave p.a. Medical Insurance. Salary to be discussed. Male only due to cabin arrangements. Requirements as follows.

- STCW Basic Training
- ENG1
- B1B2 & Schengen
- English mother tongue

Preferably already in Florida. Will need to complete quarantine period before joining.

Please send CV’s and cover letter to:
[email protected]

On behalf of the Ocean5 team, we would like to say a massive THANK YOU to for our amazing gifts which we are going to cherish! Acme whistles joined our 250 club back in October before our Atlantic row and have been a great sponsor! They have also been manufacturing whistles for over 150 years! 👏🏻

🚨🚨Birmingham live,World Record report with Rower Sam Coxon🚨🚨

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/lichfield-mans-atlantic-row-triumph-17694614

Lichfield man's Atlantic row triumph Sam Coxon was part of a 5-man team that rowed across the Atlantic Ocean recently. The Ocean 5 broke the world record and raised more than £100,000 for a good cause.

Thanks Guys!!

Last November we brought you news of The Ocean5 and their plans to row the Atlantic...And they've only gone and done it!
The 5-man team broke the record by 23 hours and came in fourth out of a total 35 boats. During the trip they hung out with a 60-strong pod of dolphins, took a naked dip in the middle of the Atlantic and, in their scariest moment, found themselves surfing a massive wave at 15+ knots which sent the boat pitch poling and rudely awoke those trying to get a little shut-eye in the cabins - who quickly found themselves lying on the ceiling.
These guys have battled phenomenal physical strain and fatigue to raise funds for the Plastic Soup Foundation.
If you bump into them in a bar, we suggest you buy them a beer and add another fiver to their fundraising efforts.
Cheers from us guys! 🍻🤩🙌

The Ocean5 Crew have really enjoyed their time in Antigua. The past 10 days have been a great time to reflect on the previous 2 years of hard work and dedication and to thank all of our families and friends/home supporters! The island really is a fantastic location and the locals are so friendly!

Once again, we would like to say a huge thankyou to all of our followers and supporters. We couldn’t of even started the row without you 🙏🏻👏🏻

The crew are all well and recovering nicely! Plenty of nice food and local beverages have been enjoyed and now it’s nearly time to get back to normal life and to start planning the next adventure 🤟🏼

The Ocean5 are World Record Holders!

As the Ocean5 supporters prepare to travel to the finish line in Antigua, we're keeping everything crossed for the achieving their goal of a new World Record!

Congratulations to the winners for 2019 Fortitude IV and those due in imminently!

If you'd like to give the rowers a boost, please consider sponsoring them through our website or our GoFundMe page.

We'd like to thank all our sponsors - we couldn't do it without you! This week, particular thanks to Southampton Freight Services Ltd, who sponsored our oars. Thanks also to Henwood Court Financial Planning Ltd and race day sponsor Marsh Fuels. Marsh Fuels kindly donated their call to St Gabriel's School so that the children could benefit. All our sponsors are helping us to reach our aim of battling ocean plastics and have a strong belief of the importance of this work.

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The Ocean5 are rowing 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge to help combat plastics in the oceans by raising money for the Plastic Soup Foundation International

We're well into the 3rd phase of the race now. There are around 450 miles left to run so we're focused on achieving or beating the current 5-man crossing time World Record.

Until now, we hadn't paid attention to the record - we've focused on tactics for the race and learning to deal with the weather and the boat. We think we've understood both those issues now. We've pushed the boat hard and she's been fantastic.

On Wednesday we had a shock because we turned the boat over. We were fighting some big seas and going very quickly, were hit on the side by a big wave and all of a sudden we capsized.

Some rowers went into the sea and 2 were in the cabins. Because we follow the rules, we were all tethered and the cabin doors were locked shut.

We recovered very quickly and the boat was upright within a minute. We lost some kit - a couple of drinking bottles and a seat sponge. Other than that, no problems and we were moving again within 5 minutes. We didn't want to cause worry at the time but are letting you know now we've assessed the situation! It allowed us to understand just how far we can push the boat but also to have confidence that if it happens again, we can recover.

We're now focused on moving absolutely as quickly as we can. We've had to make some sacrifices to achieve this including changing shift patterns so we're rowing for longer. We're also improving the way we hand over between shifts.
Everyone is focused on the World Record. We know the precise time we need to arrive in English Harbour and that is our new challenge we're aiming for.

Thank you to all our supporters and sponsors, especially those who provided excellent equipment as that has allowed us to focus on the job. This week, we'd particularly like to thank BWA Yachting for their support in reducing ocean plastics. We'd also like to thank Race Day Sponsor Rowan Group, who Kevin was pleased to speak to yesterday.

We hope to see you soon in Antigua as the new World Record holders!

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The Ocean5 are rowing 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge to help combat plastics in the oceans by raising money for the Plastic Soup Foundation

Today is our skipper Chris's birthday! Happy birthday Chris! We hope the rest of the rowers share their best snacks with you today!

Chris said the thing he would miss most is a proper shower. We hope to see them soon in Antigua where they can all have a nice hot shower!

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The Ocean5 are rowing 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge to help combat plastics in the oceans by raising money for the Plastic Soup Foundation

Day 22 update from the Ocean5 rowers:

We always had a plan for the race which broke the race into thirds. The first third was for getting used to the boat and being at sea. Unfortunately, we ran into a bad storm which somewhat disrupted our plan. The plan for the second third was to be steady and intelligent, making good progress. In the final third, we plan to use the wind and waves to our best advantage to attack aggressively and get to the front of the field.

This is currently working well and we're very pleased to be in 4th place, higher than expected and ahead of very strong team.

It has been a bit of a trial - we're now at 22 days without being able to stand up, shower, use a bathroom or have a bed. We're doing nothing but row for 2 hours, eat, sleep for an hour and repeating that 24/7.

Today we got news that we are the fastest moving boat in the fleet at the moment. We're excited that Atlantic Campaigns think its possible we could beat the record for a 5 man crossing, meaning arriving in Antigua on 18th Jan at about 11:00 local time.

Reality is a bit more disappointing. At the time of being the fastest moving boat, Kev and Will were rowing their heart out to keep the boat steady and moving forwards at 1 knot due to side wind and heavy rain. The ocean has its own mind, it changes by the minute, hour and day. We can move from flat calm to 25 knot storm in just 6 hours.

As we were fighting to make progress through the wind, Sam and Will used the rain to try to have a wash. Even through the conditions are incredibly difficult, sometimes you can use the bad weather to your advantage to have a wash!

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The Ocean5 are rowing 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge to help combat plastics in the oceans by raising money for the Plastic Soup Foundation

We're pleased to be able to share some more photos from the team today. The team are doing really well, first in their category and holding on to 4th position overall.

Everybody is very tired - it is eat, sleep row and that's it!

If you would like to spur them on by sponsoring them, you can do so on our website or here: gofundme.com/f/the-ocean-5. Thank you to all our sponsors and supporters!

Its 3 weeks since they set sail from La Gomera.. They've been challenged by weather, getting to know the boat, how best to use it and how to adapt to life on the boat. They've been rowing, sleeping or preparing to row or preparing to sleep every minute since we set off.

They're learning a lot about the boat - the complexities of dealing with it are quite enormous. Even moving from the front cabin to the back cabin is quite difficult. Different equipment is in each cabin so they need to move around.

Even simple things are difficult - imagine trying to use the toilet (which is a bucket on the rowing deck) in the dark while the boat moves in the waves - its a challenge just to hold on!

Preparing drinking water needs to be done between rowing and other tasks, so does boiling water for hot meals each day, so there is a lot to do.

A special thank you to Southampton Freight Services Ltd this week, who are fully behind the effort to clear up our oceans and reduce the effect of plastic waste.

Thanks also to ICaaS GDPR Management, who said they were delighted to sponsor this epic adventure across the Atlantic.

We know the team are missing their home comforts while rowing across the Atlantic. Look out on Twitter next week where we'll be posting what each of them is missing the most!

We asked the rowers what their friends and family thought of the challenge. One memorable person asked Kevin Gaskell "What do you do at night? Do you get onto a big boat and shower and sleep?" Err, no! Matt Gaskell said his friends were supportive, although this is the first thing he's done that has scared his mum!

Chris Hodgson's dad said “Perhaps you could take up tiddlywinks instead” and the rest of his family think he is bonkers. Sam Coxon said his family and friends think the whole team are crazy but trust with our knowledge we’ll be safe.

Will Hollingshead said his family either think the row is awe inspiring or ridiculous! One comment that cropped up from all the team's family and friends is "Why?!" As well as completing the epic row, the team would like to raise money to improve awareness of plastics in the oceans and help combat this issue with Plastic Soup Foundation International.

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The Ocean5 are rowing 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge to help combat plastics in the oceans by raising money for the Plastic Soup Foundation

A New Year message from Kevin and the Ocean5 team:

Happy new year from the Ocean5 crew to all of our friends, family, supporters, sponsors and followers.

Its 3 weeks since we set sail from La Gomera. During that time, we haven't always been where we expected to be due to the weather.

We've been challenged by getting to know the boat, how best to use it and how to adapt to life on the boat. We've been rowing, sleeping or preparing to row or preparing to sleep every minute since we set off.

Yesterday to celebrate the New Year, we gave ourselves 30 minutes off for the first time since starting the row to relax, share some gifts and cards from friends and family and talk about how we're doing and feeling. It was a really excellent time. The cards of support were appreciated but caused some emotional minutes.

The team are all positive and motivated but the toughest part is definitely waking up regularly through the night.

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The Ocean5 are rowing 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge to help combat plastics in the oceans by raising money for the Plastic Soup Foundation

Happy New Year from the ! What a start to 2020, competing in and passing the half way point!

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The Ocean5 are rowing 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge to help combat plastics in the oceans by raising money for the Plastic Soup Foundation