The New Date
With such an unpredictable & uncertain near future the Ocean Revival 2020 team have worked hard to ensure a rescheduled date for their epic row from New York to London was made the number one priority.
With this in mind, we’re happy to confirm that the boat is packed and ready to go for the new date of May 2021; the Ocean Revival team are more determined than ever to become the first ever team to ever row from New York to London!
Liberty Landing Marina in New Jersey, overlooking the Statue of Liberty has now also been rebooked to accommodate the new date. The team will arrive into the States on the 3rd May 2021 with a view of setting off, weather depending, on the 15th May 2021. However, the team will also be subject to local COVID restrictions and, if required to, may have to fly out earlier to isolate in the US prior to departure.
Due to a number of factors, including COVID-19, the team have been limited to only a couple of minor days training. However, they have a number of extended training rows set up between December 2020 and March 2021. The rows will be taking place offshore and on the South coast and will provide invaluable experience for the main event in May.
Media Documentary
The Ocean Revival team are hoping to expand on their enormous success prior to their previously planned departure in May 2020, with a number of national news interviews. We’re also pleased to confirm that the team are in talks with a documentary crew who wish to film the build-up to and then the full expedition. The plans for the documentary are in the early stages, however all parties are extremely keen to film the project, with a day on the Thames already filmed.
Charity Fundraising
Ocean Revival recently surpassed their initial £50,000 charity fundraising target and are now actively looking to take advantage of an extra year of fundraising. This has been really difficult to achieve due to measures retail businesses and parks have put in place to deal with COVID. As they now focus on the new expedition date in 2021, they are hoping to run a number of extra fundraising events however, as you can imagine, this is subject to the pandemic.
Team Update
It is with great regret that the Ocean Revival team recently announced that key member Joel Mcglynn will no longer be rowing with them in 2021. Due to various circumstance, including family commitments and personal circumstances, he unfortunately will no longer be able to participate in the upcoming row. Despite this huge loss to the team they have set up several interviews in order to find a suitable replacement, who they hope will be able to slip into the big shoes left by Joel.
The team had this to say on Joel’s departure,
“We just want to take this opportunity to thank Joel as a team for his contribution to the OR2020 expedition, and we all hope to see him behind the oars once again in the near future!”
Although the future is unpredictable, especially within recent months, the team have every confidence that they will be able to get the boat out to NYC and complete this expedition in spite of this loss and the dangers of the ever present pandemic.