Team Pacific Rowers Sweepstake Contest: WIN up to £500!

For contributing only £10 and by guessing when we’ll arrive in Hawaii, you can WIN up to *£500!

How do I enter?
It’s simple.

We’ll list your entry, and those of your competitors below (Let us know if you’d rather remain anonymous!). You just have to follow our progress across the Pacific and when we cross the finish line make you can make a bed of of cash and roll in it. Get in early to secure your time!

The closest prediction will WIN half of the total proceeds generated! Eg. If we raise £800, we will pay the sweepstake winner £400 within one month of finishing the race.

HURRY our sweepstake slots will be booked up fast, so guess when you think we’ll arrive in Hawaii NOW!

Good for: Anyone who fancies a different kind of gamble! The winner takes all!
*£500 is the legal maximum winnings and dependent on the purchase of ALL sweepstake slots.
**Note the predicted window for arrival is from July 12th to August 5th, 2014**

Current entries:

07 July @ 2100 – Julia Mansell
08 July @ 1120 – EA Watkins
11 July @ 1400 – Liam Hunt
12 July @ 2100 – Marzia
13 July @ 1300 – Beverley Eve
14 July @ 1444 – Charlie Wood
14 July @ 1800 – Ben Porter
15 July @ 1200 – Richard Powell
17 July @ 1400 – Stephanie McMillan
20 July @ 2020 – Sarah Wight
20 July @ 1300 – Victoria Jones
21 July @ 1900 – Chryso Savva
22 July @ 1100 – Chloe Elliot
22 July @ 1300 – Karen Davis
23 July @ 0206 – Barbara Hatwell
23 July @ 0800 – Andy Wight
23 July @ 1200 – Greg Hatwell
24 July @ ???? – Rob Mannix (we need your time, Rob!)
24 July @ 1235 – Mike Parker
24 July @ 1500 – Annelise Quinton
25 July @ 0606 – Penny Woods
25 July @ 1500 – Gill Wight
25 July @ 1800 – Geoff Dacombe
26 July @ 0100 – Bruce Thurlow
26 July @ 1045 – Christian Topf
26 July @ 1200 – Georgina Spiller
27 July @ 1200 – Luca, Annie & Jake Hatwell
27 July @ 1500 – Matthew Barnett
28 July @ 1100 – Ken & Joan Dacombe
28 July @ 1433 – John Fish
29 July @ 1239 – Samantois Parker
30 July   @ 1200 – Jared & Nazy
01 August @ ???? – Tom Hellberg (we need your time, Tom!)
01 August @ 1630 – Leigh Hussain
04 August @ 1350 – Carole Dacombe
???? – Melanie Roberts x2 (we need your time, Mel!)
???? – Chloe Elliot (we need your time, Chloe!)
???? – Jamie Scanlon (we need your time, Jamie!)
???? – Suzanne Uren (we need your time, Suzanne!)

Please scroll down for our #plasticfree Wall of Fame – people who have donated to our Auckland Sea Clean.

It will not be too long into our race between California and Hawaii before our oars start sweeping rubbish; tiny fragments of plastic that make up one of the largest collections of trash on our earth.

This is because the Great Pacific Race takes us on the edges of a very man-made phenomenon and one predicted to get worse unless we can change our habits.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the common name given to the enormous mass of plastic and other debris that sits on the North Pacific Gyre, continually swirling its way from south to west to north to east and around again, gradually collecting trash from wherever humans live on the north Pacific rim and depositing it without discrimination.

Although an accurate moniker, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is also misleading. The name creates images in our mind of a giant landfill at sea but the reality is much more subtle.

As plastic – thrown off boats, washed out of storm drains, left on beaches, blown out of cars, ripped out of bags by animals – bobs its way for thousands of miles around the North Pacific it is broken down by surf and sunlight into trillions of tiny pieces, without fully degrading.

Its impact is devastating. The full effect of the plastic gyre, which is replicated in other major oceans, will be the focus for study for generations to come, but its destruction is already known.

Many of us are familiar with Chris Jordan’s images of the dead bodies of Laysan Albatross chicks on the Midway Islands whose stomachs have become bloated with plastic bottle tops their parents confused for food; in the same way sea turtles think plastic bags are their favourite food: jellyfish.

Perhaps far more damaging for humans is the plastic floating in the sea will, in all likelihood, be ingested by us at some point as the tiny fragments, swept up like plankton by fish, gradually enters our food chain.

Despite the gloom, there is reason for hope.

A small yet determined and burgeoning band of people is fighting back against the plastic scourge that blights the environment and the throwaway culture that creates it.

Team Pacific Rowers – through its bid to cross the Pacific – would like to support this global community, highlighting the amazing work of beach clean-up groups, scientists, seacleaners, and environmentalists who are drawn together by concern for rubbish in our seas and coastlines.

Thanks to advancing communication such as social media, word is getting out. Other organisations relentlessly pursue scientific research to monitor ocean pollution and investigate its effects. The Twitter community that highlights the campaign against plastic pollution is huge and friendly.

Each of us in Team Pacific Rowers loves the ocean: we swim in it; surf in it; dive in it; eat from it; kayak on it; gaze at it; SUP on it; travel on it; party next to it; get seasick on it; and in our attempt to row halfway across the biggest ocean on the planet, will live on it. We don’t want it full of trash.

Our #Plasticfree campaign is a simple, positive one. Through our blog pacificrowers.com we want to promote the good work of people and groups who endeavour to tackle to the issue of sea plastic, whether through beach clean-ups, research or those who have excellent tips of cutting down on plastic use.

We will also report on our own sea clean-up activities, which we carry out on a twice-weekly basis in Auckland, New Zealand, either with the brilliant Hayden’s Harbour Clean or by ourselves.

If you are doing something to help keep rubbish out of our seas, please get in contact through this website, on Twitter (@pacificrowers), on our Facebook page or by email at info@pacificrowers.com and we will help publicise your work, event, clean-up, efforts, or research on this page.

#plasticfree

Sam, James, Fraser and Colin

#PlasticFree Wall of Fame: Thanks to the kind souls who have donated to our Auckland Sea Clean

1. Ollie Forbes
2. Geoff Dacombe
3. Joanne Rackley
4. Tim Headley
5. Thea Hewitt
6. Alexander Threipland
7. Chris Calvert
8. Matt Britton
9. Amanda Papps
10. Tom & Monica Cowan
11. Doceds

Let’s face it, rowing the Pacific isn’t a cheap endeavour and to save us from eating raw fish and driftwood plucked from the ocean, we could use your help. The costs of the whole expedition including the boat, shipping, food and drink, equipment, marine courses and travel to and from the US will exceed £60,000.

Through kind donations from partners, families and friends, every donation from as little as £5 will help the team significantly. However you choose to donate, every penny goes into the same pot and some amazing causes will benefit, which you can read more about here.

We’ve listed a few options for consideration below, and appreciate your kindness and support in advance.

1. Buy Miles

Buy sea miles from just £5. We’ll tweet and blog your name in appreciation and take exclusive photos during your miles, so you get to own part of the race and experience. £5 for 5 miles, £25 for 25 miles, £100 for 100 miles … and so on. If you want further exposure and exclusivity, the whole voyage (2,400 miles) is exclusively available for £2,000 – a discount of £400.

Click here to buy sea miles

2. Buy Oar Strokes
If you prefer bigger numbers, you can buy oar strokes, from a minimum 100 to 20,000/day, or 1m – the whole trip. Simply divide the number of strokes by 100 to donate, eg. £10 buys you a 1,000 oar strokes and £100 buys you 10,000 (or half a day hardcore rowing)

Click here to buy oar strokes

3. Calorie Burner
We’ll be burning 5,000 calories/day or 20,000 combined. Buy all calories for a full day (£20) or one of us at £5. We’ll mention you in a team blog post and email details of the motions we go through when we burn through the calories.

Click here to burn calories

4. Keeping in Touch
We’ll miss our loved ones and will need to keep in touch and keep them informed about the expedition. Help us cover the costs of our sat phone to call and text, priceless. Well almost … 100 mins / $50 or 500 mins/ $200

Click here to buy sat phone minutes

5. Go Plastic Neutral and Help Protect our Oceans
The Bad News: Did you know that plastic bags and other trash have created a toxic “plastic soup” in all of our oceans? The plastic causes illness and death in thousands of marine animals each year, and eventually makes its way into our diets as well.

The Good News: There is something we can do about it. Part of our environmental campaign involves raising awareness about plastic debris and garbage in our oceans and we’ll be rowing directly through the Great Pacific garbage patch

• Are you still using plastic bags in supermarkets?
• Is your bathroom full of shampoos and shower gels in glossy plastic packaging?
• Have you ever lived a day without using a plastic?

We all need to reduce, reuse and recycle and there’s an opportunity for you to Action: We’ll be participating and organising ‘beach clean-ups’, collecting plastic rubbish before, during and after the race. In fact, we’ve already started. We also have a plastic challenge, see how you stack up.

From beach cleanups pre-race and post-race, to plastic fishing during the race*, you can donate £50/litre of rubbish collected during the race and/or £50/50 litres of rubbish before and after the race. We’ll send you a certificate of appreciation for your efforts, and you’ll sleep better at night on your next holiday near an ocean, knowing you’ve helped contribute to drive much needed change.
*Note plastic rubbish collection will be limited during the race due to space on the boat.

Click here to go plastic neutral

6. Birthday Boy
Our youngest crew member Sam will be celebrating his birthday during the crossing. To the delight of his older crew mates, Sam will add another year and catch up momentarily with the more senior crew men in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean, a birthday he’ll never forget. Donate £50 for Sam’s birthday basket, so we can toast Sam’s birthday with a nice bottle and some cake.

Click here to buy a bottle of booze for Sam's birthday

7. Naming Rights
From just £5, you can join us ‘in spirit’ and get your name embossed onto the side of the boat or in the cabin or on an oar, the more you spend the better the position and exposure.

Click here to get your name on the boat

8. Special Requests
We’re open-minded and will be more than happy to receive personalised requests from businesses or individuals not included above, so feel free to email us at: info@pacificrowers.com for a special request to be considered.

Click here to buy a special request

9. Charity – Hope & Homes for Children
We’ve teamed up with Hope and Homes for Children, an international charity working to ensure that all children have the chance to grow up in the love of a family. Our vision is a world in which children no longer suffer institutional care.
Go here to donate to this fantastic cause!

Donate Now!

We currently accept donations via Paypal and Bitcoin.

Paypal

You can also request your donation to

Please let us know if you have any special donation requests, and if you wish for them to remain anonymous or be public.

Click here to make a donation and help us win the Great Pacific Race

Bitcoin

You can donate via bitcoin to: 1N9FQYm7DcTivE3HCDkDQrZt49DnmaVCFZ or use the QR code below. Due to the anonymous nature of Bitcoin, please let us know who you are so we can give you your thanks. If we are able to raise 5btc through donations, we will put the Bitcoin logo in a prominent location on our boat.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE DONATED TO OUR CAMPAIGN, WE APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH!

Fraser’s Grandma Ivy
MarketingPro Group
Global Business Events
Afsoon, Nathan & Dylan Griffiths
Debbie Thomas
Beverley George
Asim Janjua
Miguel Galan-Davis
Lindsay
Pat Obbard
Patricia Harrison
Liam Hunt
Geoffrey Dacombe
Carole Dacombe
Chloe Buttery
BackpackingMatt
Mike Parker
Mike Parker – Samantois
SRM World Ltd (Ricardo Molina)
Mark Pihlens
Andrew Furst
Richard Bain
Alison Lehr
Gill Wight
Hayden Flower
Sally Dorovich
Ian McGowan
John Hinton
Graham Elliot
Colin Parker (Tess Aulick)
Neil Hammond
Paul Ridout
Francis Rintoul
Tom Rowe
Ken & Joan Dacombe
Olivia Rowland
Richard Powell
Tom Hellberg
Luca, Annie & Jake Hatwell
Ben Porter
Julia Mansell
Greg Hatwell
Rob Mannix
Barbara Hatwell
Annelise Quinton
Beverley Eve
Georgina Spiller
Marzia
Christian Topf
Jared & Nazy
Chryso Savva
Christopher Howroyd
Sarah Williams
Phil Daniels
Leigh Hussain
George Simpson
Josephine Parker
Nicholas Joyce
Beverley Rye
John Fish
James Igoe
Charlie Wood (Forbes)
Bruce Thurlow
Zie Indge
James McCudden
Chloe Elliot
Josh Exell
Jamie Scanlon
Livia Burton
Jennifer Wooten
John Fish
Barbara Hatwell
Lucy Collingwood
Suzanne J Uren
Jeremy Thres
Andrew McCulloch
KA Brown
Victoria Jones
Adam Gayton
Josephine Parker
Edward Rosewarn
Stephanie McMillan
Penny Woods
Andy Wight
Gill Wight
Sarah Wight
Matthew Barnett
Karen Davis
E A Watkins
Jonathan Strathdee
Camille Wallen
David McQueen
Melanie Roberts
Joy Batey
Rachel Dudding

For all enquiries, please contact us on:

info@pacificrowers.com
+44 (0)7912 629398 (Fraser – Kent, UK)
+64 21 083 74116 (Colin – Auckland, NZ)

For all press enquiries please contact info@pacificrowers.com or call +44 (0)7912 629398

On this page:
Publicity
Videos

Publicity

Sam in westbriton.co.uk

Colin in getsurrey.co.uk

Team Pacific Rowers in Adventure Travel Magazine

Colin in New Zealand’s Sunday News.

Fraser in Index magazine Tunbridge Wells

Sam on BBC English Regions Radio

Fraser on KMFM Breakfast News

Team Pacific Rowers in the Kent and Sussex Courier

Team Pacific Rowers in Keep Britain Tidy

Team Pacific Rowers in iLivExtreme

Team Pacific Rowers in the Adventure Blog

Team Pacific Rowers in This is Kent

Team Pacific Rowers in This is Local London

Team Pacific Rowers in Your Local Guardian

Team Pacific Rowers in the Kent and Sussex Courier

Team Pacific Rowers in Before It’s News

Videos

Our First Training Day on our boat:

Picking up our boat:

Fraser Hart

Age: 33

Occupation: Web developer

Lives: Tunbridge Wells, Kent

Why are you doing The Great Pacific Race: For the challenge. For the achievement of doing something huge that at first glance seemed impossible and to get my name in the Guinness Book of Records when we cross the line ahead of the other boats. 

Plus it’s cheaper to row to Hawai’i than to fly there…. what?….. oh for….

Previous adventures: Absolutely nothing even close to the scale of the row but I have lived and worked in Australia, Canada and New Zealand, taking in as much as possible those countries offered: Camping in snowy mountains; bike rides over mountain ranges; snowboarding; surfing.

Future adventures: A 100km walk in June from London to Brighton. Hundreds of things on my list but at the moment, my sole focus is on the row.

Travel: Lived and worked in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Spent time in Asia, the South Pacific and various parts of the US.

Sports: Cycling, Snowboarding, Skateboarding, Swimming, Gym, Card & Word games

Social media: www.fraser-hart.co.uk, @fraserhartdev

Sam Collins

Form for adventure: Sam Collins.

Age: 24

Occupation: BBC Broadcaster

Lives: Channel Islands/ Cornwall

Why are you doing the Great Pacific Race: I have some adventures behind me but this promises to be, quite frankly, the hardest thing I will ever do.

Why that appeals to me I can’t really explain. When you commit to a challenge like this it seems to dominate everything you do and think about.

Previous adventures: I’ve cycled through Central America, sailed The Atlantic, mountaineered in the Himalayas, taken part in long-distance kayak expeditions, and taught diving.

Future adventures: I’m currently 100% committed to this expedition. I have half an eye on attempting a polar expedition before I’m 30, but won’t start turning my attention towards this until at least a few months after completing the Pacific.

Travel: I’ve travelled extensively in the Caribbean, Central America, Australia, New Zealand, India, South East Asia, the South Pacific islands, Europe and north Africa. Never been to California or Hawai’i.

Sports: I’m a passionate surfer, diver, cyclist, runner, swimmer, spear-fisherman, mountaineer and, well, ROWER!

Colin Parker

Age: 35

Occupation: Journalist

Lives: Auckland, New Zealand

Why are you doing the Great Pacific Race: Why not? The adventure will be like nothing else I have experienced, whether it be hunkering down during a storm, admiring the wildlife, the views of sunsets, sunrises and starscapes, and sharing it with some great blokes.

Also, I want to win, and win by a considerable margin, and to a lesser extent, see Hawai’i.

Previous adventures: Nothing to even doff a hat to this challenge. Completed the London to Brighton bike ride twice, took part in a 12-hour tennis match for Sport Relief, finished the UK Three Peaks Challenge, and ran the London Marathon in 2012, all of which has helped me raise close to £5,000 for various charities.

Travel: I have lived, worked and studied extensively in the US and Canada, and seen Central America, India, South East Asia, north Africa, Europe, and am currently living in New Zealand.

Sports: Mountain biking, snowboarding, football, tennis, surfing, and swimming. 

Social media: mrcolinparker.com, @mrcolinparker

James Wight

Curiosity and stepping into the unknown: James Wight.

Age: 35

Occupation: Marketing

Lives: London

Why are you doing the Great Pacific Race: I’ve always had projects and interests outside of my day job, most of which revolve around adventure and discovering new places and things. I’ve been interested in a bigger, extraordinary challenge for 3-4 years now, and this fantastic opportunity cropped up, so I’ve no choice but to stop talking and start doing!

Previous adventures: I’ve cycled through Portugal, climbed Kilimanjaro and Mt Kinabalu in Borneo and trekked the Southern Alps, Pyrenees and volcanoes in Indonesia. I ran the London Marathon last year, been on a few sailing trips, and taught scuba diving and participated in a few photography courses and workshops.

Future adventures: Always open to ideas and opportunity. Endurance and human powered adventure particularly appeal; cycling, trekking/mountaineering, kayaking, swimming, walking etc. My bucketlist is ridiculous.

Travel: Fortunate to have grown up in Indonesia and have travelled extensively in the region, plus North America, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and Europe. Went to Hawai’i on a family holiday before I could surf many moons ago, so very much looking forward to the journey and destination – Aloha!

Sports: I surf, snowboard, cycle, dive, swim, play squash, tennis, run, trek, sail etc. As for rowing? Never really enjoyed those machines in the gym. Training will be as big a challenge.

OUR challenge to win the inaugural New Ocean Wave Pacific Rowing Race – and be the first crew of four to row from California to Hawai’i – is an excellent platform for your company to secure positive marketing and public relations exposure.

(See below for a list of our sponsors)

Read our Sponsorship Pack

From buying the naming rights to our boat and team, including hull decals, to purchasing space on our craft for you name to appear, to providing equipment on which our quest rests, your firm will become synonymous with the adventure and idealism inherent in the Pacific Rowing Race Challenge.

The race will be covered by the world’s media, whether it be local or national newspapers, sports magazines, boat journals, health magazines or more. Organisers aim to make the Pacific Rowing Race the most interactive ever so land lubbers can pull each stroke, and are talking to TV channels to take on rights to broadcast coverage of the race.

Data from the 2001 Ward Evans Atlantic Race revealed the net value of coverage in the UK was almost £3million. Pacific Rowing Race bosses aim to smash that coverage.

And alongside the organisers’ plans, we will be undertaking our own plans to get our story out there. Two of us are journalists and one builds websites – communication and its platforms are our business.

The race is also a wonderful opportunity to boost the green credentials of your company. The very nature of rowing the Pacific creates images of wide open seas travelled without the use of fossil fuels on a boat on which all equipment is powered by the sun. The links to ocean conservation, climate change, and renewable energy are readily apparent.

But it’s not just PR and media exposure where supporting our quest can benefit your company. When the adventure is over we can attend work functions as motivational speakers or use our own professional skills for the good of your company, even if that is just live blogging on your website from the middle of the Pacific Ocean flanked by pods of dolphins.

There are a number of packages you can invest in, please contact us on info@pacificrowers.com to find out more.

Sponsors

AT 6am PST on Wednesday, 18 June 2014 (2pm GMT), Fraser Hart, Samuel Collins, Colin Parker, and James Wight will begin their attempt to win the New Ocean Wave Great Pacific Race by being the quickest four man team ever to row from Monterey, CA, to Honolulu, HI. That’s the route below.

Monterey, California to Honolulu, Hawaii

Once we set off, you’ll be able to follow our progress via yellowbrick GPS tracker on the Great Pacific Race website here. Team Pacific Rowers, as we are collectively called, will spend the next five weeks flitting between rowing, sleeping and eating the most calorie-intense food we can get our hands on in a vessel not much bigger than us, hoping the sight of those lush Hawaiian volcanoes will make the whole adventure worthwhile.

The boat is now laden with the latest staying alive equipment, powered by solar-charged batteries, including communication devices and water desalinators, and also necessities in the event of an emergency – when 1,050 miles from civilisation. More importantly, we will be able to blog. We’ll also be updating our Twitter and Facebook feeds whenever possible so you can keep up to date with  how the team is getting on.

You can also check out daily race reports including updates on weather conditions and snippets from the teams on the Great Pacific Race website.