If you’re getting ready to set off for the adventure of a lifetime rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, you need a hardy, fit crew – and you need a boat. But if your boat is stuck in Hong Kong, many thousands of miles from the start line, and the global ocean freight supply chain has ground to a halt – then that presents something of a problem.
This was the dilemma facing an intrepid team of three Hongkongers: Matt Bell, Martin Muller, and Robert Lennox, collectively known as East Rows West. They were committed to the non-stop rowing race known as the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge – and with their training regime almost completed, sponsors secured and charity for their fundraising identified, this was a potential disaster. Had they been unable to get to the start line at La Gomera in the Canary Islands, they would have been defeated before they had even started. Or, as Matt puts it: ‘When you've spent almost two years preparing for something, not being able to get to the start line would have been absolutely crushing.’