Endurance rower Angus Collins has taken delivery of his new craft ready for a challenge to take on the record books.
The 35 year old who has broken speed records in the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific oceans collected his new rowing boat, made in Millbrook.
He will be rowing solo around the coastline of Great Britain this summer to raise £250,000 for mental health charity James’ Place in the vessel built by local company Carbonish. Boat builders Ian Munslow and Carl Harwood were entrusted with developing the boat under the watchful eye of the Millbrook community.
Angus Collins will embark on his Great British Odyssey in June, rowing solo around the coastline of Great Britain in his rowing boat, made in Millbrook.
The old garage and former coal shed of the Plymouth steam ship company seems an apt location to be building the boat which is to take Angus on a new rowing adventure, unlike any he’s undertaken before.
The space is old but vast, with a whiff of nostalgia to the 1950s, a mechanics ramp and a campervan which doubled up as the team’s office and HQ.
Ian, an experienced boatbuilder from Derbyshire has lived in Millbrook for over 15 years. It’s his first rowing boat build, and unfazed by the build, he is treating this new craft with plenty of care and attention.
On our first visit in November, the carcass of the rowing boat was starting to take shape. Over the winter the boat was put to bed covered in blankets overnight to keep it warm; the epoxy used for the different layers of the boat needs to get to 30 degrees to fuse.
Busy explaining the boat building process, Ian walks around the hull; the finish is an odd pink colour but the shape is already there and she looks surprisingly small.
Angus Collins is 6ft tall and he tells me the boat has been made to fit him exactly. No chance of selling it on after the row to some burly Scottish man that has shown an interest in the boat, he laughs.
Before the rowing challenge even begins, he’s already thinking about how he recoups the considerable investment, but he brings his thoughts back to the here and now. “It’s awesome,” he says as he smiles from ear to ear.
“Up until now it’s always been drawings and ideas and dreams but now I can actually start to envisage, or yes, sit on the boat, and see how big the cabin is, and is the rowing set up right. It’s taking it from paper to reality and it’s really exciting. I can’t wait to actually put her in the water and hit the next phase,” he added.
Not only will he be going solo for the first time on this rowing adventure; it’s the first time a boat has been built to his design and to match his requirements. He has brought the ideas and design to the table for Ian to build.
And the top priority in that is for the boat to be light - altogether with all the fittings she needs to be under 100kg; the dream number is 89kg. Add to that food and equipment and Angus will be rowing a boat solo of around 400kg.
Two mates, he explains had already tried to row around Britain in a traditional ocean rowing boat. “It just didn’t work,” he explains. “They are designed for downwind racing, where the elements are largely coming from behind you, which is what you would expect crossing the Atlantic, but with the conditions around the coast ever changing, we needed to design a boat that could punch into a 15 knot headwind, but still be fast downwind.”
Discovering that there was nothing out there that fitted his specifications, he decided to design it himself. “I needed something to hold enough food, be big enough to sleep in and light enough to propel the boat in 15 knots of head winds.” And with boats, Ian adds, light is more expensive than heavy.
Unlike his previous ocean rowing, Angus will be taking on this latest challenge solo meaning an eight hour rowing shift, coming in to anchor to sleep for four hours - realistically with just one hour’s sleep - before the next rowing phase. And if the rain closes in, it’s going to be a very confined space to keep dry in. “It will be very soggy but as you get older, that’s not as appealing as it used to be!” he laughs.
An anticipated 15,000 strokes a day means around 6000 calories relying on predominantly freeze-dried food to sustain him and 12 litres of water from a watermaker on board powered by 300 watts of solar panels. Closely overseen by the Ocean Rowing Society and the Guinness Book of Records, if he succeeds, it will be a world first for the rower whose family originates from Falmouth.
Angus is already anticipating challenging stretches of water on his journey such as strong tides and currents off the Northwest of Scotland, including the Gulf of Corryvreckan. On a recent recce to the area, while rowing through the Mull of Kintyre, a stag appeared and walked with them for a while; the kind of stunning encounter that makes this kind of thing all worthwhile, Angus says.
Another major hurdle is the stretch of coast from Weymouth to Polzeath with some big gaps between any good areas for him to anchor up. With good weather for the challenge Angus is confident to be able to finish under 40 days.
In contrast to his previous ocean rowing challenges, Angus will never be too far away from civilisation and in constant communication. “Rowing across oceans you have no perspective of the outside world, but around Britain, I could anchor up and be 15 minutes from a fish and chip shop,” he grins.
Angus will have a life raft on board and touch base with the coastguard every day to let them know his passage plan. And his biggest fear? “Three days of headwinds and how do I mentally cope with the control being taken away from me. I don’t mind the discomfort, but it’s the fear of not being in control that intimidates me,” he said.
“I’m constantly reminded about the selfish endeavour I’m taking on with two kids at home and a fiancée. There’s always an element of danger but one thing I’m good at is calculating risk; I’m good at knowing my boat’s limits and my own.”
With his new rowing boat now across the Tamar and based just outside Southhampton the real training can be begin in earnest. “I need to know the boat inside out and I need to teach myself what to do if anything breaks.”
Angus reflects on the build in the Duchy: “Sadly, we’re leaving Cornwall but the boat will be back for a few days after she’s done a few hundred miles, so she will come home for a bit.
“Millbrook is a special place for A Great British Odyssey. It seems like there are quite a lot of wild things that go on here and I’m not the most unique, niche boat! I’m glad she’s been built surrounded by other adventurers.”
Sunday June 1 has been scheduled as the preliminary start date with fingers crossed for a good weather window and the right tides for his Great British Odyssey.