Rob Hamill goes for two in a row

After winning the inaugural transatlantic rowing race, Rob Hamill just can't help sticking his oar in again, as ROBIN BAILEY writes.

Whay are you doing it again? That's the question Rob Hamill has been asked dozens of times since he announced his campaign to defend his title in the Atlantic Rowing Race 2001.

His answer is simple: "It's a race. We set the record in 1997 and we want to win it for Phil Stubbs."

Hamill is referring to the first 2900 nautical mile (5000km) race from Tenerife in the Canary Islands to Barbados that he and Stubbs won by almost eight days.

Hamill and Stubbs had planned a two-boat challenge for 2001. Then, in December 1998, Stubbs died in a plane crash at Karekare Beach.

Phil's prospective partner for the race was sports all-rounder Steve Westlake, aged 30, who subsequently joined Hamill for the title defence.

And to ensure there would again be a two-boat New Zealand challenge, Westlake's girlfriend Steph Brown teamed with Jude Ellis to row the No 2 boat. They are the only all-female crew among the 38 entries this year.

Both women are well qualified for the task ahead. Brown, 34, is an experienced sailor, canoeist and rafter with a swag of multisport successes on her CV. Ellis, 35, who describes herself as a sports junkie, began her rowing career at 21 and has rowed for New Zealand.

Hamill and Stubbs finished the 1997 race as broke heroes. They won a couple of kegs of Mount Gay rum and had to sell the rum in the home of that beverage for just $2000 to pay their phone bill. Back in New Zealand the kegs would have fetched three times that amount.

This time things are different. They have secured naming rights sponsorship from Telecom and a second-tier commitment from TV3, which will be their host broadcaster. Then come those who were on board for the first campaign, including Mainfreight and the Lion Foundation.

Mainfreight managing director Bruce Plested says his company was able to support the first challenge through its shipping company subsidiary LEP. Now that it is operating in Australia, China, Hong Kong and the United States, its support makes more commercial sense.

"The company totally supports Rob's 'Kiwis taking on the world' philosophy," says Plested. "That's what we are doing successfully and it's what he and Phil did so well in 1997. We received huge exposure from our relatively small stake then, so it is good to be able to come aboard again for the two-boat campaign."

Hamill says his team worked hard to keep a New Zealand focus on its sponsorship, with Telecom an ideal partner.

"In the world of telecommunications they are a comparatively small player but they demonstrate what we are on about: Kiwis making an impact on the international stage."

He concedes that TV3 does not fit into the same New Zealand-made slot, but says a media partnership is vital to ensure their efforts are recorded.

"We did approach TVNZ but were not able to reach any sort of agreement, possibly because they have been going through a certain amount of charter restructuring. There was no one there prepared to come aboard so we went to TV3 and received an enthusiastic response."

Now aged 37, Hamill admits he is almost too old for what is billed as the ultimate test of strength and human endurance. In his book, The Naked Rower, he described the challenges he and Stubbs faced: storms with mountainous seas, physical and psychological exhaustion, sunburn, headaches, hallucinations, blistered hands, feet and buttocks and sleep deprivation. It's the sleep deprivation that worries him most.

"Last time we were not aware of what we were letting ourselves in for. This time I know exactly what it will be like and I have been doing a course of self-hypnosis, a form of relaxation therapy that helps you relax even if sleep is impossible."

Hamill believes the first week of the race is the toughest. Consequently, he and Westlake have embarked on a series of two- and three-day rows between now and the time the contingent heads for the start line at Los Gigantes marina in Tenerife on October 7. They are determined to be as well-prepared as is possible to ensure a successful defence.

And Hamill is confident the Brown-Ellis team will finish in Barbados well ahead of many of the male crews.