Old Canfordian Ed Baylis and his Atlantic rowing partner, Stu Turnbull, arrived in Antigua to a heroes’ welcome on Wednesday 21st February, after a back-breaking 63 days, 12 hours and 46 minutes at sea.  The pair, who had never been in a rowing boat before, sailed into English Harbour at 21.21 GMT to a fanfare of horns, hooters, fireworks and a burst of Rule Britannia. More than 100 friends and family and well wishers lined the dock to greet them at the end of their 3,000 mile journey in aid of Cancer Research UK.

As he took his fist wobbly steps on dry land in two months, Ed said: “It has been an adventure and a privilege. I have never felt so exhausted, so empty but so exhilarated."  His first request was for a vanilla milk shake, a shower and a slice of his 94-year-old grandmother’s chocolate cake.


The pair set off on December 20th, hoping to break a world record for crossing from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua and missed it by a convincing 23 days after battling savage weather, exhaustion and near-starvation.  The pair fell so behind schedule their food supply ran out after 50 days. They were forced into a starvation diet of snacks when 'flying' Dutch rowers Gijs Koning and Wendel Rontgen came to the rescue. The two boats had a Valentine rendezvous mid-Atlantic where Stu and Ed “feasted like Kings” and stocked up for the final push. Once their bellies were full, they began rowing again only to have a near-miss with a huge container ship.

As they made their final approach to the Caribbean island, Ed said: “Despite all the problems and the hardships, this is just the way we would have wanted it – a real pirates adventure, not a flat-out, boring, world record crossing.”

Ed, a businessman, and Stu, a trainee doctor, freely admitted their crossing was a “hare-brained challenge” that would push them to their physical and mental limits but they were driven by the desire to help find a cure for cancer. Both men have lost close family and friends to the illness. The names of those they had lost were painted on the side of the boat.

They originally planned to set sail on December 10th but were held up for ten days by severe weather. They had hoped to shave three days off the current record of 40 days, five hours and 31 minutes held by two New Zealanders. When that plan was scuppered by the weather, they set a new target to break the 49 day world record set by TV presenter Ben Fogle and Olympic champion rower James Cracknell for crossing from La Gomera to Antigua (the 40 day record was set on a row to Barbados). That ambition was also sunk by conditions in the ocean they have come to call Big Blue Bertha.

Mr Harpal S. Kumar, Chief Operating Officer at Cancer Research UK, said:
“Stu and Ed have shown extraordinary strength of mind and body during their epic voyage across the Atlantic. They have managed to maintain a sense of humour despite the near-starvation, near-misses and the physical extremes they have suffered. This whole project has been driven by their determination to make a significant contribution to the lives of those fighting cancer through the work of Cancer Research UK. We are all both in awe of them and grateful to them for undertaking this amazing test of endurance.”

For more information about the challenge and to sponsor Stu and Ed on behalf of Cancer Research UK, visit: www.Atlantic06.com

For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 020 7009 8820 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org.uk.