Devonshire based nautical events company, Woodvale Events Ltd today (Tuesday 25 July 2006) announces that it will be extending the Solo Class of both the Atlantic Rowing Race 2007 and the Atlantic Rowing Race 2009 to an Open Solo Class, allowing for the first time ever, rowing boats of different design to take part in these totally amazing events.
"As a fellow ocean rower, I understand only to well that not everyone wants to be confined to competing in a one design class boat and previously, our races have excluded these people. By extending the Solo Class to an Open Solo Class, we are providing greater choice of boat design and enabling solo rowers who would have previously crossed the Atlantic outside of a race environment, the added benefit of taking part in an organised event with professional and proven safety support management."
To maintain the high level of safety standards of this event, anyone wishing to enter a boat in to the Open Solo Class must first prove that their boat meets the basic design principals laid down by Woodvale Events Ltd. These include but are not limited to:
1. The boat must be self righting
2. The boat must not provide a substantial windage advantage over the other designs.
Both the Atlantic Rowing Race 2007 & 2009 events will start from La Gomera in the Canary Islands and will follow a 2,550 nautical mile route across the Atlantic Ocean to Antigua in the West Indies. With a current race record of 39 days set by the local RNLI crew from Beer, All Relative in the previous race, the gauntlet has been thrown down to the 47 teams taking part in the Atlantic Rowing Race 2007 to win the race, in the fastest possible time.