Alex Simpson, (fittingly!) a broker in our marine team, and his friend Jamie Gordon have rowed across the Atlantic in a record-breaking time of 37 days, 17 hours and 42 minutes and raising over £170,000 for Hyperion’s Million for a Million charity initiative.
Not only do they now hold the record of fastest two-man Atlantic crossing but Alex also gains the crown of being the youngest person to row across three oceans at 27 years old.
Alex and Jamie began their epic journey in Gran Canaria, covering 4,800km to reach their final destination in Barbados. With an ocean so vast and without a support boat, Alex and Jamie faced many logistical challenges from maintaining their boat to balancing their increased nutritional needs with minimising the amount of weight carried to planning a route avoiding major shipping lanes.
If that wasn’t enough, the pair had to endure extreme mental and physical exhaustion, rowing for 24 hours a day on a two hours on/ two hours off basis, tackling 12 foot waves, relentless head winds and surviving white-knuckle encounters with commercial ships.
On arrival in Barbados, Alex said: “Jamie and I never hesitated in our
determination and self-belief that together we would break this challenging record.”
Dominic Collins, Chairman, Hyperion added: “I am delighted that Alex and Jamie have landed safely and succeeded in spite of difficult weather conditions in breaking the record. The physical and mental strength demonstrated by Alex and Jamie during this challenge has been truly inspirational and we should be justly proud of them for their outstanding achievement.
We look forward to welcoming Alex back to London and hope he’s enjoying a well-deserved break in sunny Barbados!
You can read more about Alex and Jamie’s journey here.