World record attempt

Monday 3 December 2007
Aberystwyth graduate goes for Atlantic rowing record
Aberystwyth University graduate Stuart Kershaw is mixing business with pleasure as a member of the ‘La Mondiale' rowing team which is taking part in the 2007 Transatlantic World Record Rowing Race.
Stuart, who specialises in extreme film making and journalism and is director of Aberystwyth University Spin-out company In the Dark Productions, is producing a film about the team as they prepare for their world record attempt.

The current record stands at 35 days and 8 hours and was set by a team of French Legionnaires in 1992.

As if producing a film of the team's trials and tribulations is not enough, Stuart is also a fully paid up member of La Mondiale’s twelve man rowing team, which means he will have to pull his weight as an oarsman for 12 hours every day.

Two teams are set to take part in the race which leaves Gran Canaria on Saturday 15 December. Going head to head with the British/Irish ‘La Mondiale’ team will be the American based ‘Team Orca’.

Speaking before departing for Gran Canaria, Stuart said:

“As the director and cameraman for this expedition, I have been documenting the 12 man team’s transition from regular human beings to oceanic super athletes. All that remains now is to film them as they take on what must be one of the toughest challenges on Earth!

“As an oarsman I have had to pass a multitude of physical and psychological tests and prepare myself for 30ft waves in the Atlantic swell, force 9 hurricanes as we approach the Caribbean peninsula and an unwelcome barrage of large finned fish that silently follow the jettisoned human flotsam as we make our crossing.”

“Each crew member has a specific skill or asset to the team; for example, we have a heart surgeon onboard who can perform a tracheotomy with a wire coat hanger! We have a ship’s engineer who deals with any technical mishaps onboard, a skipper naturally but alas there is no chef, so we will all be responsible for doing our own cooking!” he added.

As part of the Aberystwyth University Spin Out Programme Stuart gives lectures about his experience of working in hostile and inaccessible regions to the University’s film and television students.

 When he returns from the Caribbean he will be able to add The Transatlantic World Record Rowing Race to the list which also includes Burma, Palestine, Kashmir and the Alaskan Interior.


Stuart is also using this event to raise money for the Brain and Spine Foundation. Anyone wishing to sponsor him can do so by visiting the web site http://www.justgiving.com/stuartkershaw.

Further information:
Stuart Kershaw, Director, In the Dark Productions Ltd,
Mobile 07890 311 978  
E-mail stu@inthedarkproductions.co.uk
Web: www.inthedarkproductions.co.uk
Arthur Dafis, Public Relations Officer, Aberystwyth University,
01970 621763 / 07841 979 452 / aid@aber.ac.uk  

Transatlantic World Record Rowing Race
Full details of the can be viewed online at http://www.oceanrowevents.com./

La Mondiale – vital statistics
Built in 1991 by VMG (Ouistreham) ‘La Mondiale’ is made of composite, woven glass and carbon sandwich epoxy under vacuum. At 15.5m long and 2.8m across the beam she is longer than the average rowing boat. Bare hull weighs 639 kilos and fully laden weighs 3.9 tons. La Mondiale was used by the current record holders for their successful 1992 attempt but has been completely refitted for this attempt.

The Route
At just over 3000 miles the route takes the teams from Gran Canaria to Barbados.

Sea Trial Record
During sea trials which took place between 4 and 7 October the La Mondiale team broke the record for the longest non stop row in the North Sea with a distance of 180 miles (Lowestoft-Edinburgh). The previous record was held by a Royal Marines Commando Team with a distance of 72 miles.

An Aberystwyth University spinout company
In the Dark Productions Directors, Stuart Kershaw and Samantha Fazakerley, both graduates of Aberystwyth University’s Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies (TFTV), applied, successfully for KEF Entrepreneurial Scholarships, each worth £5,000 towards running costs of their business in the early days. KEF Scholarships are available to applicants who have graduated in the last three years and who are looking to set up ambitious new enterprises.

WalesSpinout Programme
Although In the Dark Productions is an International operation, the business is registered in Aberystwyth and maintains a close and on-going relationship with the TFTV Department. Through this link the business has a “spin-in” relationship with Aberystwyth University and is on the Wales Spinout Programme, which has made available loan funding and technical consultancy support. Spinout also provides specialist training courses for new enterprises.

Crisalis Germinator
In the Dark Productions uses the facilities of Aberystwyth University’s smart Crisalis facility, a business incubator that provides hot-desking space for pre-start-ups; office space for start-ups and a range of business support services, including meeting room hire and a business library. Any new business connected with the University can take advantage of the Crisalis Centre.