Rowing to Barbados

In December 2002, Kevin Bigger walked into Andy Philpotts's office at the University of Auckland with a proposal. He had heard of Philpott's work with Team New Zealand on the optimal routing of America's Cup yachts and wanted to use similar techniques to determine an optimal route to row across the Atlantic in the 2003 Woodvale Transatlantic Challenge. The Woodvale Transatlantic Challenge is a grueling event lasting more than 40 days in which pairs of oarsmen in identical kitset boats battle the elements and their own fears to row from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Barbados, 2,500 nautical miles away. No outside assistance is available in the race, in which crews must be entirely self-sufficient for food and water.