Solo Atlantic Row 2011

What a manic last month it has been since the 24 hour row. Now with just two days until I fly out to Gomera, I finally have the time to sit down (for about 20 minutes) and go through all that has been happening. It’s funny I’ve been working on this project for a long time and with ‘the process’ of getting to the start line coming to an end it all feels a bit weird, the last couple days I have started to wonder what I am going to do with myself once I am back...I am then quickly reminded that a job is the normal and necessary requirement once I finish to get those loans paid off!! On the back of the success of the dinner it has thus been full ahead with acquiring all the equipment I need for the row. It is an extensive list and...

Just a week after the fundraiser dinner I was in London Victoria Station for my big charity event for Mind. Set on the main concourse of the station the plan was that I would row for 24 hours (although not non-stop, only breaking to eat and toilet stops) whilst on a second rowing machine I had friends and family rowing for an hour each. Now I had written to all the big train stations in London asking about the possibility of putting on this event and Victoria were actually the only ones who came back and said it was feasible and that they could give me a date to do it. Not only that they really did help me out in getting the best pitch possible (right in the middle of the concourse) and not having to pay for it, and for that I am hugely thankful to the station....

So Friday 7thOctober and the fundraiser dinner has finally come and gone, and what an unbelievable night it was! In all honesty the night was a lot of work to plan and prepare for, especially in the week leading up to it. Whilst I always had more important things to worry about like sorting equipment and getting the boat ready, our projection for the night was over £10k so I was happy putting the work in viewing it as working on a main sponsor for the row. 201 people filled the Mountbatten room in the RAC, Pall Mall and was a huge mix of friends and family along with companies and business contacts there to support the row. The boat was also in the Club for the weekend, a massive asset, so when everyone arrived the first thing they saw was the boat! Getting the boat ready did prove fairly...

            FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Tommy Tippetts Tel: 07885 986 972 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   KIRDFORD MAN ATTEMPTING SOLO ATLANTIC ROW 22 Year Old Will Be The Youngest Ever Solo Entrant Of ‘The World’s Toughest Rowing Race’ Tommy Tippetts, 22, of Kirdford, West Sussex is aiming to become one of the youngest people ever to row across the Atlantic Ocean solo as he competes in the Woodvale Challenge Atlantic Rowing Race. Departing La Gomera, Canary Islands on 4thDecember 2011, it is 3000 miles across the open ocean, fully unsupported, to the finish line at Port St. Charles, Barbados. Less than 90 people have ever achieved this feat and with more people summiting Mt. Everest each year than have ever rowed an ocean it is fast becoming a pinnacle of human physical achievement. During his time at sea Tommy will receive no outside support apart from weather updates from his land based...

To take part in the Woodvale race I am required to hold certain qualifications before the Spanish Authorities will let me leave La Gomera in December. They have had to rescue a fair amount of people in the last 10 years or so who have left Gomera and have got into difficulty within a couple of days, obviously costing the lifeguard a lot of money. So the last week I have spent down in Southampton completing my short range radio course, sea survival and first aid as well as my Oceanmaster. The last 8 days have undoubtedly been a turning point in the whole project, not only through what I have learnt on the course but also through speaking to the other guys on the course who are also in the race. A room full of ocean rowers makes ocean rowing quite acceptable! The sea survival course has also made...