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By the end of the day today, four of the seven teams competing in the Indian Ocean Rowing Race 2009 (Boat No. 7 ‘Bexhill Trust Challenger, Boat No. 88 ‘Aud Eamus’, Boat No. 13 ‘Pura Vida’ and Boat No. 5 ‘Rowing for Prostate’) will have passed the half way mark in this most extreme ultra endurance race.  As we look towards the second half and the ultimate goal, the finish line at Mauritius, now seems an appropriate time to look back over the history of Indian Ocean rows.

Prior to the start of the Indian Ocean Rowing Race 2009, there had been as little as twelve attempts to row across the Indian Ocean and only four of these attempts were successful.

The first successful crossing took place back in 1971 when Swede/naturalized New Zealander, Anders Svedlund, completed a crossing from Kalbarri, Western Australia to Diego Suarez, Madagascar (4,313 miles) in 64 days.  His was the only classic crossing of the Indian Ocean, before advanced technology offered ocean rowers all the mod cons of GPS navigation units and watermakers.

Following in Anders footsteps, came the first crossing of the modern day made by non other than Woodvale Challenge Chairman, Simon Chalk.  Simon become both the youngest and first Briton to ever row across the Indian Ocean, when he arrived safely at Rafael Island in 2003, 107 days after setting out from Kalbarri, Western Australia (4,027 miles).

A further successful solo crossing and one double handed crossing of the Indian Ocean followed Simon’s voyage in 2005 and 2007 respectively and the current record for rowing across the Indian Ocean is held by Ukrainian, Paval Rezvoy who rowed from the Cocos Islands, Australia to Mahe in the Seychelles (2,977 miles) in 57 days.

On completing his crossing, Simon had an ambition to offer other adventurers the chance to achieve the same unique experience by organising the first ever rowing race to cross the Indian Ocean.  It took six years of planning and preparation but his ambition was finally realised, when 11 crews set off from Geraldton on the 19 April 2009, in the Indian Ocean Rowing Race 2009.  This was a proud and emotional moment for Simon and all the staff at Woodvale Challenge who worked relentlessly to make this event happen.

Not content with just organising the event, Simon decided the proof of the pudding is in the eating by joining the 8 man crew, ‘Aud Eamus’ as a replacement crew member – his second crossing of the Indian and an impressive fourth total ocean rowing crossing.

The future is now in the hands of the seven crews that remain in the race, with many records up for grabs.  The first fours team, the first eight man team, the fastest crossing, the first female crew, the youngest are all possible records that may well be taken by the Indian Ocean Rowing Race crews.  So hang on in there guys, your efforts will be all the worth while when you too reach the finish and succeed in completing your dream voyage.

For the latest positions of all the teams competing in the Indian Ocean Rowing Race 2009, please go to the Progress Page on this site.