A STUDENT who helped set a new world record for rowing across the Atlantic Ocean told yesterday how the voyage was “hell” at times.
Stuart Kershaw, 27, recalled having to endure searing 100-degree heat, stinging sores and monster waves during their 33-day crossing from the Canaries to Barbados.
But Stuart, a student at Aberystwyth University, and his 13 fellow oarsmen managed to smash the previous transatlantic rowing record by just over two days.
They rowed their boat La Mondiale into the Guinness Book of World Records with a new time of 33 days, seven hours and 30 minutes.
The previous record was 35 days, 8hrs and 30mins set in 1992.
They team arrived in Barbados on January 17 and Stuart has just got back to Wales after enjoying 10 days of rest and recuperation.
He told the Daily Post: “I’ve been trying to walk again, the tendonitis in my hands is pretty bad and we’ve got boils on our bottoms, like bed sores, from friction.”
The fair-skinned oarsman covered up but admitted the sunburn was “quite tortuous”.
Then there was the threat from the ocean itself.
He said: “There’s a 30 metre-swell in the Atlantic. But the most difficult to handle waves were the sharp, six or seven metre waves that punch you from the side.
“They fling you around the boat and soak you. It’s very scary and it can take a long while to dry out.”
Stuart said rowing on a transatlantic bid is like “playing eight football matches a day, every day”.
The oarsman, who lives on Merseyside, said another blow came when a storm sent La Mondiale backwards for three days, before the crew made up lost time.
He said: “Psychologically, it was draining because we weren’t moving forward.”
However, he enjoyed “heart-warming compassion” from fellow rowers on Christmas Day.
They were elated on beating the fastest crossing record on January 17.
“I was so happy to get there in one piece. It was a great boost to get the record too,” he added.
Stuart celebrated with parents David and Barbara Kershaw and sister Susan, 22, who had travelled to Barbados.
The 14 British and Irish record holding rowers will be officially recognised at a London ceremony in March.
Mr Kershaw is making a TV film of the voyage – for his mini film company In the Dark Productions – due out later this year, called Ocean’s 14, which he managed to shoot during rest periods.
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