Rowing: No time to rest for transatlantic pair

By SUZANNE MCFADDEN

Sleep has almost become a forbidden word on the New Zealand men's rowboat as they put in a final burst to break the transatlantic record before midnight tomorrow.

Steve Westlake and Matt Goodman last night had 170 nautical miles to row to cross the finish line off Barbados.

To beat the race record of 41 days, one hour and 55 minutes, they must reach Port St Charles before 11.55 pm on Saturday (NZ time).

Both men know it is still possible, if they can average 73-mile days. But it means less napping and more time at the oars.

"For the last 2800 miles we've gone as fast as we could," Westlake said yesterday.

"We've decided to change a few things in the last days to get the speed up, so we're rowing hard together for longer."

For the past 39 days, the New Zealanders have operated a two hours on, two hours off system - one man rowing, while the other sleeps.

Now they spend 20 minutes rowing together between shifts, and this has lifted their daily mileage - yesterday, to 63 miles.

But their physical efforts mean little if the weather is not in sync with them. Yesterday, they made steady progress in 5 to 10 knot tailwinds, but they expect the breeze to lift to 15 knots today, pushing them closer to their goal.

In the past two days, the New Zealand men have seen three ships sailing by. One yacht passed 100m away, but it was on autopilot.

Westlake and Goodman have now run out of some food and drink supplements, and their rowing shoes have fallen apart.

They strap their feet in using duct tape.

The New Zealand women, Jude Ellis and Steph Brown, have 550 miles to go in fourth place, but have been making up ground on the Belgians in third.