Galway men set off on 5,000km row across the ocean

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Galway Daily news Galway men set off on 5,000km row across the ocean
Photo: @emjcamera

Two Galway men have set off on a 5,000km odyssey, attempting to break the world record as they row from New York to Galway.

Lifelong friends Damian Browne and Fergus Farrell are crossing the Atlantic in Project Empower, raising money for four local charities as they do.

Two two men set off from New York on Monday, and expect to hopefully arrive at the docks in just under eight weeks.

You can track their progress across the ocean at projectempower.ie, as they attempt to break the existing record.

The existing record for an unsupported row across the Atlantic Ocean has been unbeaten for the past 120 years.

In total, there have been 52 such attempts, but only 18 of them even managed to complete the crossing.

Of these, six successful crossings have been made by pairs, another six by solo rowers, five by a group of four people, and one team of five.

The pairs world record is held by Norwegians George Harboe and Frank (Gabriel) Samuelsen who were the first pair to attempt the row.

They crossed from New York to the Scilly Isles in 1896 in a time of 55 days and 13 hours.

People can still donate to Project Empower to support the work of the Galway Simon Community, National Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation, Ability West and Madra.