Mandatory Training

13-17 November 2023

What an absolutely brilliant week for the Oarsome Team!

We moved out of our first operating base in the north-west and into our new Team Home on the south coast ready for future training events. Both teams have been massively supportive and brilliant to work with.

The team also undertook (and passed) 3 of the 5 mandatory courses required to undertake the challenge. They have already completed the Ocean Rowing Course. The outstanding course is a 1-day first aid course. A massive thanks to JSASTC for their help and co-operation in facilitating this bespoke requirement.

And, most importantly….with the help of Army Commercial, Army Corporate Governance and Regional Command Civ Sec, we are moving towards getting major sponsors on contract this side of Christmas. Stand by for sponsorship announcements in the next few weeks.
In short, a great week that leaves us dangerously close to pulling this off.

Boat Renaming Ceremony

7 October 2023

We couldn’t have asked for better weather or a better group of people to witness it! The boat looked so smart with the new decals from Ford Designs (thank you so much!) and it was incredibly special to have Colonel Jane’s family there to bless the boat and wish the team luck in their epic adventure 🚣

Thanks also to @rmasandhurst for offering us the best backdrop we could have hoped for and the continued support of @britisharmysport , @adjutantgeneralscorps and our ETS colleagues. This project simply could not happen without a huge team behind the scenes.

Our First Outing

3-4 August 2023

The boat is finally on the water! After a few days of learning the basics of rowing, on the River Thames, we have finally managed to get out on our ocean rowing boat, but within the safe waters of Lake Windermere for our first ventures.

Learning to Row

31 July – 2 August 2023

Every journey starts with a single footstep, or, in this case, paddle stroke!

The Oarsome Army Educators came from all over the country and converged on The Army Rowing Club in Abingdon to commence their rowing training.

In a bid to prove there is no feat they can’t take on, they even capsized the “uncapsizable” training boat!
Dispute the unforeseen levels of dampness, it was a really encouraging and useful few days. A few team members are even considering more river rowing in the future.

Boat Collection

15 July 2023

Oarsome Army Educators officially collected the boat from @rannochadventure

Thank you to @row.hard.or.go.home @dan_____b for the hand over and support. It’s all starting to feel more real now.

Ocean Rowing Course

4 May 2023

We’ve all now completed our Ocean Rowing Course. The first of the mandatory training courses we need to complete, it gives a great insight into the adventure we have embarked on. It is delivered by Atlantic Campaigns and covers many topics from before the event, what happens throughout the race, the help they can give to families and many, many others. A busy day with lots of useful information and very worthwhile doing as early as possible.

Rannoch Open Day

15 April 2023

Busy weekend for the team. Things are really starting to move now. The @rannochadventure Open Day gave us the opportunity to finally see our boat (she’s a beaut), meet the Rannoch team, other suppliers of kit that will be essential during the row, and fellow competitors. We received an inspiring talk from double Olympic gold medalist @alexgregorygb and managed to grab him for a photo featuring our ETS flag.

Brugha’s Progress

Our boat, Brugha, is currently well over the halfway mark of this year’s Talisker Challenge. She is being rowed by a 5 man team from the Irish Army called Row Hard or Go Home. Right now they have 775 miles to go. A great effort! Well Done.