Team Anna Victorious

At this time of year, we naturally look back at the year behind and forward to the one before us. For Anna Victorious, it is even more relevant as the 2020 race participants battle the weather conditions, exhaustion and blisters in their mission to reach Antigua. We have become avid Dot Watchers as we track the teams across the ocean via their GPS. Some teams have technology that allows them to send high quality video back and the footage of the wildlife is breathtaking - although the 12-foot Hammerhead shark that was particularly interested in one of the boats will perhaps bring a sense of urgency to getting and and cleaning the hull!

We now have less than a year until we set off on our own quest and our preparations are going well. We are incredibly fortunate to have built a team around us that is fantastic. We have experts in nutrition, injury prevention, ocean rowing, strength and conditioning and weather routing to name but a few. They are all working to get us to the start line and we will ever be grateful for their support. We have our much-loved boat, Emma, who has successfully made two previous crossings. So when the chips are down, we will no doubt rely on her experience and hopefully she will know the way!

We have a group of sponsors that have been amazing, and we love talking to their teams about our journey to date. To get to this point has certainly been challenging but we are better people for it. We have all seen significant changes in our lives - we have changed jobs and, in one case, added family members (impending). Certainly, this monumental challenge will impact on us further.

We continue to train, although we have picked up a couple of injuries. Adam is looking particularly fetching in a plastic boot having broken a bone in his foot. If you let him, he will try and regale you with a heroic story about how it happened, but the reality is he fell over trying to keep up with Jack on a training run. There is plenty of time to heal and to be in top shape for the start. We have been completing about 40 kilometres a week on the Concept 2 rower but having met with Dan Harris from GB rowing recently, some of us were all relieved to hear that we would be mixing the program up for the next month, adding some running and cycling.

We are desperate to get back out on the water and are planning some overnight trips in the summer months to test our skills onboard (Duncan, we have all been practising our knots). Our ‘to do list’ is becoming more technical; the tiller arm needs adjusting, the water maker needs servicing and reinstalling and many other things. Although all these things are critical to our success or failure, it is a good sign that we are getting to a more nuanced means now that we have the ‘big’ stuff done.

This blog intentionally does not mention the current pandemic issues as we are looking forward; we are looking forward to seeing each other, we are looking forward to seeing our family and friends and we are looking forward to seeing you. We are certain that 2021 will be seismic for us but our primary objective was to inspire and empower others to follow their dreams too. So while we don’t necessarily advocate a resolution, why not plan a challenge or adventure this year? It doesn’t need to be huge, but that thing that keeps coming to mind - just do it in 2021.