5:25 AM Thu 4 Dec 2008 GMT
Twenty-four year-old adventurers Clark Carter and Ryan Storey will tomorrow set off from Newcastle for their first extended ocean row, a significant step in the pair's preparation for next year's 3,100 nautical mile Indian Ocean Rowing Race.
Clark and Storey will leave Newcastle Harbour Friday morning, 5 December, and row 90 miles to Sydney Harbour aboard their ocean going row boat called Noakes Youth.
Accompanying Carter and Storey for the overnighter will be Sean Langman, founder of the Noakes Youth program and principle partner of the Noakes Youth Indian Ocean row attempt, and skipper of the smallest and oldest boat contesting this year's Rolex Sydney Hobart, the 1932-built gaff-rigged Maluka of Kermandie.
Maluka of Kermandie will complete its Rolex Sydney Hobart qualifying passage sailing in the vicinity of the two rowers.
Noakes Youth - Australia's only pairs class entry for the Indian Ocean Rowing Race 2009
Clark Carter and Ryan Storey are far from average 24 year-olds. The pair has an extreme taste for adventure and their sights are now set on next year's Woodvale Challenge Indian Ocean Rowing Race, a 3,100 nautical mile ocean row from Geraldton in Western Australia to Mauritius.
Carter and Storey are the only Australian pairs class entry for the inaugural Indian Ocean Rowing Race 2009 - the first ever southern hemisphere ocean rowing race - amongst a largely UK field.
Teams are expected to take around 80 days to row the 3,100 nautical mile course using the prevailing wind and current, however the supporting effects of both are expected to be less predominant than the constant trade conditions of the mid-Atlantic, the stretch of water used for the 2,500nm Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race which is considered the premier event in ocean rowing.
During the Indian Ocean Rowing Race, Carter and Storey will use nothing but their own strength to propel them over the endless sea miles. For almost three months they will face swells, strong winds and an unrelenting sun - and no-one but each other to talk to.
Their physical and mental endurance will be pushed to the absolute limit as they aim to be the first pair, first Australians and youngest males to complete the gruelling challenge.
Realising their exceptional qualities, Noakes Youth founder Sean Langman took the young adventurers under his wing 18 months ago, becoming their mentor as well as principle partner of the 7.1 metre row boat called Noakes Youth and the attempt.
Noakes Youth, which is part of the Langman's expanding Noakes Group business, has contributed all labour and materials to build the row boat that has to be strong enough to withstand the trials of the Indian Ocean.
Noakes Youth apprentices, under the guidance of boat builders from Newcastle and Sydney, took approximately 2,000 hours to build and modify the row boat. Noakes Youth was first launched a year ago then modified following trials. It was re-launched in November this year.
Leading up to the commencement of sea trials, Carter and Storey have developed an intense 20 hour a week fitness program including the ergo rowing machine, rowing skulls, kayaking, running, strength training in the gym and various other cross-training sports.
Before they put to sea next year the pair has to be proficient in celestial navigation, coastal navigation, marine meteorology and understand the basics of sailing and seamanship, something Langman, a 16 time Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race veteran is well qualified to teach.
From July to October 2005, Carter spent 58 days with Chris Bray alone and totally unsupported in an attempt to cross 1,100 kilometres of the mostly unexplored wilderness that is Victoria Island in the remote Canadian Arctic. Only making it a third of the way across, the pair returned in 2008 and successfully completed the crossing.
In 2007 Carter and Storey sailed with Blizzard Expeditions one-third of the way around the world via the great southern ocean, stopping at the New Zealand sub-Antarctic Islands of Auckland and Campbell Island before finally reaching Puerto Monte, Chile. During this trip Carter and Storey were able to test their celestial navigation skills and managed to maintain good accuracy navigating 1,000 nautical miles using the stars, sun, moon and planets as their guide.
Carter and Storey will be rowing in the Indian Ocean Rowing Race for The Shepherd Centre - www.shepherdcentre.com.au. The Shepherd Centre's vision is to enable children who are deaf and hearing-impaired to develop spoken language so they may fully participate in the hearing world, and in so doing reach their full potential.
Noakes Youth specifications:
Boat name: Noakes Youth
Length: 7.1m
Weight: Approximately 750-800kg fully loaded
Width: 1.9m
No. of build hours: 2,000
Constructed from: GRP and plywood
Rowers:
Clark Carter (24, lives at Matcham, NSW Central Coast)
Ryan Storey (24, lives at Terrigal, NSW Central Coast)
Websites:
Clark Carter and Ryan Storey & their Indian Ocean Rowing Race entry www.rowtheindian.com
Noakes Youth program www.noakesyouth.com.au
Woodvale Challenge www.woodvalechallenge.com
by Lisa Ratcliffe - occ.net.au
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