Helen Bates

Niall's Atlantic Row

Fundraising for Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
€5,443
raised of €1,000 target
Donations cannot currently be made to this page
Atlantic Row, 12 April 2017
We provide emergency medical care worldwide to people affected by conflict & disasters.

Story

Niall is rowing the Atlantic Ocean in his own personal challenge but if there were ever a time to sponsor someone for some feat of endurance and personal endeavour then this may be it.

EAT, SLEEP, ROW, REPEAT.... 2 hours on, 2 hours off, 50 days...

On the 6th March 2017 Niall set off to row across the Atlantic Ocean. Now I know what some of you will be thinking - "Didn't Niall do something like this before?". The answer is "No, but Yes". In 2012 he sailed across the Pacific Ocean as part of Clipper Round the World yacht race. In a crew of 15 he sailed from China to San Francisco on board a 68 foot racing yacht. We covered around 10,000km in total in 29 days. We sailed in 4hrs on/4hrs off shifts day and night through whatever conditions Mother Nature threw at us. It was long, it was hard but it was incredibly fun.

But this time, in a 25ft rowing boat, 4 of them are attempting to row nearly 6,000km from Portugal to French Guiana in a 2hrs on/2hrs off watch pattern day and night. It will take them around 50 days. Sounds similar? Maybe. But it's a bit like the difference between driving 1000 miles and running 1000 miles. If you've ever rowed on a rowing machine before - try doing an hour non stop. If you've never rowed on a rowing machine before, try it just once for 10 minutes. That's what they are doing every 2 hours for 2 hours, for 50 days. They've rowed through storms, at night, in the searing heat, in the freezing cold, when exhausted, when in pain, whatever. As one of the current world record (50 days, 10 hours) crew said - "You can give up as many times as you want as long as you keep on rowing". It's going to be hard.

UPDATE - they are into the last 750 miles of the journey!!!!!

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is the world's leading emergency medical humanitarian aid organisation.We provide emergency assistance to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics and natural or man-made disasters, without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation. We work in over 60 countries and go to the places where others cannot or choose not to go.



Share this story

Help Helen Bates

Sharing this page with your friends could help raise up to 3x more in donations

You can also help by sharing this link on

About the charity

Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is the world's leading medical humanitarian aid organisation. We work in over 70 countries - in conflict zones, natural disasters and epidemics. We are independent, neutral and impartial. We provide medical care where it's needed most.

Donation summary

Total raised
€5,442.12
+ €307.98 Gift Aid
Online donations
€2,392.12
Offline donations
€3,050.00

* Charities pay a small fee for our service. Find out how much it is and what we do for it.