James & Ben

'Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul...and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off--then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.'

Herman Melville, "Moby Dick"

On a dark November evening in London two friends, James Adair and Benjamin Stenning, tired of the daily commute and getting ever closer to methodically knocking peoples mobile phones out of their hands, agree that it is high time to row an Ocean.

With a few ups and downs (including Benjamin Stenning completely disappearing off the radar for 8 months) they now finally have their chance with entry to the Woodvale Indian Ocean Race in April 2011 from Australia to Mauritius.

1980	Born in Guildford, Surrey
1981/1984	Achieved nothing of note
1985	Won school award for good manners + part of two man team to win 'wheel barrow race'
1985/1987	Achieved little of note
1988	Crowned Prep School Judo champion in a closely fought contest
1988/1992	Spent time playing football, cricket, rugby, hockey, tennis, squash, athletics, badminton, swimming, cycling and undertook formative reading of the works of Willard Price, Henri Charriere and Thor Heyerdahl
1993	Sent away to Charterhouse School
1994	Contracted GBS (see The Charities) which resulted in complete paralysis from head to toe. Spent six months in hospital and a further 18 months in rehabilitation. End of competitive Judo career.
1995/1999	Learnt to walk again, read a lot, completed school with average grades.
2000	Predictable gap year in Peru
2000/2004	Reads history at St Andrews University. Despite discovering on his first meeting that he is dating the same girl as Ben they become firm friends. Takes up golf, writes final dissertation on 'The Abyssinian Expedition 1867'. Finishes with standard 2:1.

2005	Moves in with Ben Stenning to top floor flat Brixton, London. Comes up with Ocean Rowing concept and enlists Ben.
2006	Works and travels in Africa and briefly back in London for publishing company.
2006/2008	Becomes Editor of the Alderney Journal, the national newspaper of Alderney, the third largest of the four Channel Islands. Highly successful but at times controversial career in Journalism. Develops passion for spear fishing and despite stiff competition opens batting for the island's cricket team.
2008/2010	Becomes dry cargo shipbroker working for HSBC Shipping Services Ltd in London.

1980	Born in Chatham, Kent
1981/1984	Injury prone Ben showed some of the more reckless traits that would become the hallmark of his later sporting/dancing/academic career. Also developed the hyper-competitiveness for which he would later become famous on the university squash circuit.
1985	Moved to Kenya
1987	Stepped on a stonefish on Mombasa beach, narrowly avoiding amputation and subsequently spending two years hospitalised back in the UK whilst undergoing surgery.
1992	Captained Prep School cricket team to worst defeat in their history in which they only managed to post 9 runs in total again Pembroke College with Ben top scoring on 3.
1993	Sent away to Downside School
1994/1999	Played first XV rugby, headed school CCF, finished with average grades
2000	Predictable gap year in Tonga
2001/2004	Reads English Literature at St Andrews University. Travels around Scotland with James during revision weeks. Takes up golf, runs marathon, writes final dissertation on 'Post Colonial Literature'. Finishes with standard 2:1.
2005	Moves in with James to top floor flat Brixton, London. Starts out on exciting career as a Fully Integrated Accounting Software Salesman. Quits software for a brief stint at the 'World Cheese Awards' in the Excel Centre.

2005/2007	Moves back to East Africa to work in Uganda for Civicon a freight forwarding and logistics company
2007/2008	Worked for French logistics major Bollore in Juba, Sudan. Lived in a container and suffered from a number of rare and nasty afflictions including 'Nairobi Eye' , Malaria and boredom.
2008/2010	Moved to Takoradi Port in Ghana and later Tema Port, Ghana where he oversees with seamless professionalism the imports/exports that are vital to Ghana's development.
2009	Ben, in a beautifully worded letter full brilliantly constructed and devastatingly persuasive rhetoric, pulls out of the rowing trip entirely.
2010	HE'S BACK!!!!!!!!!! (full of customary indecision, disorganisation and the recklessness which defined his early years).

In July 2010 James and Ben purchased an ocean rowing pairs boat which was is now being stored thanks to the kindness the team at Gallions Point Marina in east London.
Designed and built by Rossiter Yachts in 2007 she was rowed by Matt Boreham and Alan Locke across the Atlantic from east to west as 'Gemini' in 2008 and recently completed the Woodvale Atlantic Race in 2010 crewed by Adam Rackley and James Arnold as the 'Spirit of Montanaro'

Provisionally named 'Brixton Dreamer' but available to renamed by a generous sponsor (see The Loot) she is made of fibre glass and has copper coating on her hull to protect against fouling.
With solar panels to provide energy for the GPS and other equipment and such as a desalinator to provide fresh water a crew of two can live off dried foods and remain self-sufficient for months at sea.
Starting in Geraldton, Western Australia and finishing in Port Louis, Mauritius, the race course spans 3,100 miles of open ocean. Scheduled to start in early April 2011 this is the second race across the Indian Ocean run by Woodvale Challenge Limited who also run races across the Atlantic Ocean.
The race will be done in specially designed self-righting boats which have enough space to carry food and supplies for approximate duration of the passage. The estimated time of crossing for a pair is around three to four months.

Entrants will row in solo, pairs or fours boats. Ben and James are entering as a pair. In the last Indian Ocean Race in 2009 four pairs boats set off on 19th April but only two completed the race. The two successful boats completed the race on 30th July and 31st July.

www.woodvale-challenge.com/Indian+Ocean+Rowing+Race+2011

http://www.indianoceanrow.com

www.oceanrowing.com
Having grown up in Kenya and visited homes like Tumaini in the past I was deeply touched by the work that they do for children suffering from AIDS/HIV in Kenya. The hope that they give the children and the opportunity that they give them to lead a normal life is remarkable.

Tumaini is an orphanage located in Mombasa, Kenya which cares for children who are affected or infected by AIDS/HIV. Joan Smith a retiree from Kent saw her dream realised when the orphanage opened in early 2006. Plans for the future are too extend the dormitories to accommodate more children, open a clinic for the wider community and establish a school on a site opposite. More information can be found at the Tumaini Childrens Home Website . Tumaini is Swahili for "Hope".
www.tumainichildrenshome.com

At the age of 14 I contracted GBS and within a day I was completely paralysed, unable to see, breath or move a muscle but fully conscious. This was quite scary but perhaps worse for family and friends who knew nothing of this illness. The GBSSG does much valued work in supporting families coping with this illness and also in funding research into its causes and cures.

Since 1985, the GBS Support Group has supported those affected by the neuropathies Guillain-Barre syndrome and CIDP, and their clinical variants. The Charity provides information and support to sufferers and their families and aims to raise awareness of the illnesses amongst both medical professionals and the general public. It raises funds for cutting-edge research into the illnesses
www.gbs.org.uk

We will be raising funds both for the cost of race itself as well as our nominated charities. All the money we raise after our costs will go equally to our charities and we will also contribute personally from the re-sale of the boat.

In terms of the race costs we will be putting in our own money but also offering opportunities for corporate and individual sponsorship.

£1 - £30	Thanks and guaranteed invite to post race party
£31 - £1,000	Name and short message on boat gunwales/aft cabin
£1,001 - £7,500	Prominent display of company logo / family crest on boat
£7,501 - £10,000	Company flag / family crest flown high from aft mast of boat
£10,001 - £20,000	Opportunity to name boat
Over £20,000	Wow ! We will think of something, a figurehead maybe..!

Please contact us at benjamesrowing@hotmail.co.uk for our account details and to tell us your message or send details of your company logo.

Alternatively any other ideas or suggestions of how you might like to sponsor us would be welcomed.

On the other hand if you would prefer to simply donate directly to one of our charities please follow the links below. More specific information and details of the charities can be found under 'The Charities' tab.

www.justgiving.com/James-Adair | www.justgiving.com/Ben-Stenning