SIX?WOMEN?from Britain and the United States are attempting a record-breaking row across the Atlantic to Barbados this month to bring world attention to the problem of human trafficking.
The Row For Freedom team comprising five British women and one American will also be competing to become the first female crew to successfully row the 3 000 miles from the Canary Islands to Barbados in the fastest time.
They plan to row around the clock in all weather conditions for 40 days and 40 nights on a boat they have aptly named The Guardian, hoping to achieve the world record for an unaided crossing of the Atlantic. This means they will not see any support vessels or receive any help during the five-week record attempt.
The six charity workers, models and athletes who have set aside their jobs for the adventure in which they aim to raise awareness and much needed funding for projects to tackle human trafficking, have set a target of £1 million for the British charity ECPAT UK which spearheads the attempt to end child prostitution and slavery.
It is estimated that 27 million people, half of them children, are modern day slaves and victims of human trafficking and the team have associated some poignancy to the route, noting the race route played a significant role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the 1800s.
The team comprises Britons Julia Immonen, Debbie Beadle, Katie Pattison-Hart, Kate Richardson, Helen Leigh and American skipper Andrea Quigley, the oldest in the group.
Talking about the daring exercise, spokeswoman for the rowers Immogen said: “We’ll be rowing 24 hours a day . . . for about 40 days without the support of our families.
“We have opted not to have news from home as we are worried that it will be too emotional to hear from close relatives when we are in the middle of the Atlantic. We are all incredibly driven to secure this world record whilst raising funds and awareness of the issue of child slavery across the world.”
(GC)
