Rowing: Hamill says team more important

LONDON - A "gutted" Rob Hamill says he could have ditched team-mate Steve Westlake to row the Trans-Atlantic Challenge solo, but it would not have been in the interests of a team he spent four years putting together.

Hamill declared himself fit for the 4667km race after breaking a hand 10 days before, only to have Westlake, 30, overrule him before the start yesterday.

Hamill, who won the race with the late Phil Stubbs in 1997, stepped aside to let Matt Goodman take his place.

"As team leader I could have gone with somebody else," Hamill said. "It's my campaign, I've put the whole thing together, but I felt that there was no one else about who was fit enough. I was really keen to go solo, but I wouldn't have won the race."

Hamill, 37, is now planning for the next race.

He was thrilled to see years of preparation pay off when his team's boats lined up at the start.

"You could see our boats were lighter, just like it was last time, although the margin was not as much," he said.

That advantage helped Westlake and Goodman take an early lead, as well as lifting the New Zealand women, Steph Brown and Jude Ellis, to fourth, ahead of many all-men crews.

- NZPA