Rowing: Burned boat testament to strain of race

While two New Zealand rowing crews are blazing to the front of the fleet in the transatlantic race, other rowers are burning their boats and heading home.

The psychological stress of rowing 24 hours a day across the Atlantic has taken its toll on at least three of the competitors after only 12 days at sea.

One crew have withdrawn from the Tenerife-Barbados race, setting their boat on fire as they left, while another boat has lost half its crew.

At least one other entry has considered pulling out in the past few days. But withdrawing is the last thing on the minds of New Zealand rowers Steve Westlake and Matt Goodman, who have stolen the race lead from the Australian crew, albeit by only two miles.

The Kiwi women, Steph Brown and Jude Ellis, have also made major gains in the past 24 hours to wrestle for third spot with the Win Belgium team.

British cousins David and Jason Hart set their boat, Darmothian, alight after abandoning it when the going got too tough.

David Hart had become disoriented rowing at night, and asked to be taken off the boat. His cousin decided to carry on single-handed, but after two days alone pulled the plug.

With both men safely on board a support vessel, their rowboat was torched so it would not become a shipping hazard.

Another Englishman, 45-year-old Rob Ringer, has withdrawn from the race, suffering from mental stress, leaving his sailing partner Richard Wood to go it alone on the Spirit of Worcestershire.

The pair rowed to El Hierro, the last of the Tenerife islands, where Ringer went ashore. Wood is now waiting for a satellite telephone so he can continue in the race today.

The race record-holder, Kiwi rower Rob Hamill, has already been asked to give advice to one of the English crews in the race struggling with boat handling.

Hamill, back home in New Zealand after injury forced him to stay on land, said it was difficult to understand what some of the rowers were going through.

"In a way, withdrawing from the race is quite courageous. They have to bite their own pride and egos to make that decision," he said.

The New Zealand men on Telecom Challenge One say they are having a ball, but struggling with "stinking heat and humidity."

The pair are drinking at least 40 litres of water between them a day.

Brown and Ellis are perhaps the unsung heroes of the race so far. Ellis said the pair could not believe how fast they were rowing, and were already four days ahead of their schedule - to complete the distance in 52 days.

"The preparation we put into this race has really become obvious now," Hamill said. "You've got Steph and Jude up against these big, burly, hairy-backed men and they're rowing away from them."