Story By CHRIS BUSHELL

When Wickford Rotarian Peter Carter went to his boat in Bradwell in Essex last year he saw a lady bringing a rather unusual rowing boat back into the marina, his curiosity made him go and speak to her when she landed. Her name is Linda Blakely.

Linda Blakely is a remarkable woman. A dedicated athlete in her youth, she became a successful businesswoman running three small children’s homes when she moved from her native Northern Ireland to England.

Since then, she has raced in the Kona Ironman World Championships, represented Great Britain in triathlon and winning silver at the European Championships, and summitting Everest and Lhotse in consecutive days.

She told Peter of her latest challenge and why she was doing it.

In one of her children’s homes the manager has a three-year-old daughter with a rare genetic condition which results in devastating epileptic seizures. Driven by the desire to help, Linda wanted to raise £100,000 for Action Medical Research for Children, a charity whose aim is to change children’s lives through medical research, developing treatments, vaccinations, and cures.

Linda’s plan was to set a new record for a solo crossing of the Atlantic by a woman which is held by fellow British athlete Victoria Evans who did the 3,000 miles in 40 days in 2022.

So impressed by her determination and seeing her working towards the event inspired Peter to come back to Wickford Rotary to see how the club could help.

It was decided that the best way to help this project along was to publicise the attempt through the club’s social media feeds, and become a sponsor. With a mixture of funds raised from Wickford Rotary Club’s 200 Club initiative and quiz nights, along with some personal donations, they sponsored the boat to the tune of £5,000, and had a Rotary logo on the boat!

Linda’s boat was six metres long and just over 1.5m wide with a small cabin at one end and with solar panels to provide power for communication, navigation and a water desalination plant.

Her preparation started with actually learning how to row, but also understanding her boat and how she might repair anything which comes along, learning navigational skills, as well as preparing herself physically and mentally for the 3,000-mile trip.

Linda left Gran Canaria on January 20th this year, which seemed a little extreme considering the size of the seas in the Atlantic at that time of year, but in theory the advantage was that the prevailing winds and tidal flows should help speed her along in attempting to break the record.

However, it was not to be; the huge seas capsized her completely at one point in the first few days, causing her to lose an oar. Shortly afterwards, waves swamped the boat and broke her other right-handed oar, so she rowed most of the way with two left-hand oars. Linda managed to repair the boat at sea, but was upset to realise she had lost her favourite pink Ironman sun visor!