GREAT BRITISH ODYSSEY

ANGUS COLLINS GOES IT ALONE

WORDS TOM RANSLEY

PHOTOGRAPHY DAVID LOFTUS, CESARE SERVENTI + BEN DUFFY

“A full on cowboy experience,” says world record holder Angus Collins of his 71 day Indian Ocean voyage, his first of four ocean rows. “I wouldn't advise anyone start with the Indian Ocean. A few of us did the Indi an Ocean first: none of us did it again.”

The 36-year-old adventure consultant holds records for his Pacific and (two) Atlantic crossings, but his next challenge is closer to home.

The Great British Odyssey, the name of his latest challenge, will be Collins’ first ever solo row. He is aiming to complete a single-handed circumnavigation around mainland Great Britain – non-stop and unsupported. If successful, Collins will be the first person to do it.

The campaign has already proved challenging. The boat remains unfinished and his original schedule has lapsed; by this point (four weeks out) Collins had hoped to complete several test rows. Such worries are not on show as he springs across the gravel drive to greet me at his beautiful country home in Hampshire.

“Circumnavigating Great Britain is far harder than crossing the Atlantic. Generally if you put an unmanned boat on the water in the Canaries, it will end up on a Caribbean Island in about 120 days. I had a client who took 125 days, they literally slowed the boat down!

“Around Britain the wind will change direction the whole time and knowing the tides and the intricacies of the local waters is huge. Tidal charts only show you so much, there are always back eddies that only the locals know about. I've been talking to the fishermen, sailors, windsurfers, and anyone else who’s been hanging around these areas, to try and work out the local waters.”

There have been eight previous attempts, says Collins. Andrew Hodgson holds the current circumnavigation record; it took him 175 days. “Andy is a good friend of mine. He only rowed when the wind was absolutely perfect. He put enough food in the boat to have a good summer. He knows every inch of the British coastline, so he'll be my back up if anything goes wrong.” Hodgson stopped in Grimsby for a resupply of food so his row was not unsupported.