A crew of 17 men and women from across daa will attempt to become the first team ever to row a 17-foot Celtic Longboat from Ireland to France. The team includes Chief Executive Kevin Toland and John Hurley, Head of B2B.
The daa’s Team Endeavoar is expected to row a total of 70 hours in rotations of five rowers at a time to cross the 500km of open water starting from Dunmore East in Waterford and finishing in Landeda Brittany, Northern France.
The first two days will see the crew row 300km continually for 40 hours to reach the Scilly Isles, England. Here support boats will refuel and load provisions before the rowers continue on the final 200km journey to France – estimated to take about 30 hours.
Team Endeavoar’s rowing Captain Brian Dempsey, a member of daa’s Airport Police Fire Service, said: “The team will cross the busiest shipping lanes in the world, encountering very strong tides in the English Channel and the treacherous Atlantic swell prevalent in Northwest France. These are just some of reasons why this event has never been attempted before.
“We have all been training long and hard for this challenge and we are determined to pull it off. Our determination is fuelled by our passion to raise as much as we can for our three daa charity partners.”
The rowers are taking on this challenge in aid of daa charity partners Temple Street Children’s Hospital, Parkinson’s Association of Ireland and the Diabetes Unit in Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin.
Team Endeavoar left Dunmore East, two days earlier than planned due to poor weather forecasts. Estimated arrival time is around Landeda Brittany, Northern France, on Thursday night, 28th May.
Chairperson of daa’s Charity Committee, Siobhán O’Donnell said: “On behalf of all my colleagues in daa I wish Team Endeavoar every success in their quest to conquer this stretch of open water in a boat. The team are incredibly dedicated and focussed on completing this challenge and in raising substantial funds for our three charity partners. We look forward to welcoming them home safely.”
Charity donations can be made to TEXT OCEAN to 50300 for a €2 donation. The voyage of Team Endeavoar can be tracked via live digital mapping on www.endeavoar.ie . daa staff have donated more than €1.5 million to 12 Irish charities over the past nine years.
