At 1300 hours on Saturday 26 November 2005, Devonshire based Woodvale Events Ltd announced that the start of the Atlantic Rowing Race 2005 will be postponed until further notice due to bad weather conditions.
The 2,550 nm endurance Ocean rowing race from La Gomera, Canary Islands to Antigua in the West Indies had been scheduled to start on Sunday 27 November 2005. However, the weather forecast for the next two days indicates adverse winds of up to 32 knots around the Canary Islands, the effects of a tropical revolving storm further out in the Atlantic, making it impossible for the Race to set off.
For the 26 teams taking part in the Race, this is desperately disappointing news as many boat supporters will now be travelling home before the rescheduled race start. Race organisers, Woodvale Events will always put safety first but to keep spirits high among the fleet, a sprint race against the clock of approximately 2nm in length has been organised for Sunday morning to imitate Race start.
Simon Chalk, Managing Director of Woodvale Events comments: "By postponing the start of the race until this adverse weather system has passed, we can ensure the safety of all the team entries, whilst providing the opportunity for records still to be broken. With the right conditions, any team has the ability to win this Race and we fully expect the 36 day crossing record to be broken during the course of this event."
A final decision on the rescheduled race start date will be announced by the Race Committee on Monday 28 November 2005.