Hampshire firefighters rowing across the Atlantic without power but back on course after five day storm

Minds Matter teammates Stu Vince and Craig Sadler, who have both served in Cosham, set off from La Gomera in the Canary Islands on December 12 and are currently competing in the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge which has been dubbed ‘the world’s toughest row.’

On December 27 a post on the team’s Twitter announced that a storm had halted their efforts and advice from the race safety team meant they were forced to deploy their parachute anchor and stop rowing for five days. As of January 4, they now face an additional obstacle as their power supply is down after the boat’s batteries were drained by their ‘autohelm’ steering system. Going forward, they will have limited communcation with loved ones and will have to use a manual pump to get fresh water, a time consuming proccess compounded by the failure of their jetboil cookers.

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Stu’s partner Rachael Bussy said: ‘We might not even speak to them now until Antigua, which is quite disheartnening. What they were really enjoying was I was feeding them back all the messages I’ve been getting on their social media. I’m not going to be able to get them over to them now.

‘I’d like to say it’s exciting but it’s a little bit terrifying now. As a partner of Stu, you just want to be like ‘I’ll just go get you and get you home’ but you can’t.’

According to a Facebook post on January 2 from Atlantic Campaigns, who organise the annual race, the team were stuck for five days and spent the time searching for ‘patience’, which is also the name of their vessel.

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The post said: ‘They are now back on the oars, making sure to take a daily reflection as to why they are doing the race, and ensuring they share the very important message of their campaign – prioritising mental health and making sure to reach out. Both the team have experienced wild hallucinations whilst rowing and we are enjoying their stories as they recollect them.’

Rachael added: ‘It doesn’t sound like the most exhilarating or best experience they are getting but, as I said to Stu on the phone, you’re getting the real experience. At least you can say when you get to Antigua you didn’t have the smoothest crossing, you encountered all of these problems and overcame them and you’ve come in as heroes’.’

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A message from Craig posted on the team campaign page on January 2 said: ‘I am hungry, exhausted, blistered and sore but I remember why we are doing this. Mindset is absolutely everything out here.’

The duo are competing in the transatlantic race to raise money for mental health charity Solent Mind and The Fire Fighters Charity, having both faced mental health struggles throughout their careers including the loss of colleagues.

Due to the conditions they have faced in the race so far, the team are estimated by the YB Races live tracking website to reach their Antigua and Barbuda destination in early March where Stu will be greeted by Rachael.

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