We consider ourselves very lucky on the road that has led Arch2Arctic to materialise. We had to learn a lot of new things and that process is excelerated when you’ve got experts who can point you in the right direction.

When I lived in Southampton, I fell into the sailing crowd, and met a certain Nick Cherry, a professional sailor, who races single handedly in the Figaro. He also works for Fourth Cape, a company that specialises in project management in sailing for commercial sponsors and private individuals. Set up by Charlie Derbyshire, another true gent, Fourth Cape have been the perfect sponsor for us in many different ways.

Equipment

When we were starting the planning, we got our hands on a copy of the Talisker Atlantic Rowing Race equipment list. Apart from being several arm lengths long, we didn’t know what half the stuff was, much less whether we needed it. Fourth Cape not only helped us define our own list but also provided most of the equipment too. Kudos.

On-shore support

We learnt early on that one of the key support roles that we would need on the expedition is a weather router for the row. This is a professional job and there are a few well known routers in the ocean rowing world. For racers it is absolutely essential to have someone that know’s what they’re talking about. We’re not racing but we still need daily weather updates and we can rest assured we’re in capable hands with Nick. During each call made with the satellite phone he will summarise the weather conditions and between us we’ll agree the best course of action. Holly Scott, my better half will be taking over from Nick for the last week as he is off sailing again. Fortunately she knows a thing or two about sailing herself, being a former world champion.

An honour and a privilege to have such a fantastic team working with us to achieve our mission.