The Tempest Two - Two Men. One Boat. 3000 Miles.
James Whittle and Tom Caufield were neither seasoned rowers nor professional athletes. They’re inexperienced oarsmen with a deep passion for defying what is possible and proving that everyday people can accomplish incredible feats through determination, bravery and grit.
“When people hear about the challenge, they usually ask about storms, capsizing and being eaten alive. But our main concern really was that we had never actually rowed a boat.”
Known as the toughest voyage on earth, the two embarked on the grueling voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. They departed from the Canary Islands on the 13th of December. Rowing in two-hour shifts 24 hours a day, they spent 12 hours a day pulling oars and burning 20,000 calories. After 60 days at sea - and losing 20% of their body weight - they landed on the West Indies island of Antigua.
We had a chance to catch up with them before their journey. They shared with us their training regimen, the mental preparation and the sheer craziness of the planned journey:
Q 1: You have almost no experience rowing. How are you training?
A 1: The past 16 months we’ve been training. It’s been a mixture of a number of programs, from strength to flexibility to endurance. We’ve worked with a physiotherapist to ensure that our bodies are ready for the journey. We feel that the most difficult part was that neither of us had set foot in a boat, so initially we had to jump in a rowing boat to understand the mechanics of what was involved. From there we were able to break up our training.
Q 2: Most people would agree that this voyage is a little crazy. How did you decide to take it on?
A 2: The decision cam from watching the Clipper World Boat race, which my mother was taking part in. I just saw the enthusiasm and the buzz around the crews. After this it was simply a text to James while in the pub and said we should do something big, then we got the ball rolling.
Q 3: You’ll be burning a lot of calories each day. What kind of sea rations are you bringing to keep up with the loss?
A 3: Before we left our diet was three good meals per day to supplement the training we were doing, so we were hitting about 5,000+ calories. While out on the water we will be rationed to 4 freeze-dried meals per day. Alongside this we have a number of snacks: protein balls, coconut oil & peanut butter to keep the calories high.
Q 4: How do you mentally prepare for this challenge?
A 4: The mental side of this challenge is much more important than the physical side. You can prepare for the strength training that you want, but if you’re not there mentally on day one you will fail. But we’ve been 100% confident that we can smash this. If we went in with the mentality that we’re out of our depth, it would have been a lonely place for us both. We’re lucky that we have a two-man team to push each other when things are rough.
Q 5: You’re giving yourselves two-hour breaks for every two hours of rowing. How do you switch off and get rest?
A 5: You can’t really prepare for it. We’ve been advised toward this by a number of people that have completed similar challenges. Initially, it’s going to be pretty tough to get into this pattern but we will get in the swing of things. What we’re nervous about is the other things that we have to do in the two hours: eating, maintenance, uploading, cleaning. To change things up every now and again we will row together and take some time off together.
Q 6: Let’s say a punishing storm blows through. How do you manage towering swells and gale force winds?
A 6: Rule number one is that unless it is a dead plan flat, you keep all the hatches closed. At the end of the day, it’s pretty likely that we’ll hit some big waves and get flipped. If you get flipped and everything is shut the boat will return to normal and we can row again. But if we have a tiny lapse of concentration and the latches are open then the effects can be catastrophic. If water gets into the cabins, the boat will likely stay capsized. The Atlantic is known for rogue waves so we have to be ready for these.
Q 7: How will LifeProof help you on your journey?
A 7: LifeProof has already been a massive help. I dropped my phone in a puddle of water on the boat and I had my case on so it was perfect. These devices are our lifelines while out on the water. They host all of our movies, music and books so it is amazing to know that our devices are always ready for every situation thrown at us.
