Catalan rowers win Canary Islands to America rowing race

The Ocean Cats rowing team has won the Talisker Atlantic Challenge 2022 after reaching Antigua and Barbuda in 31 days, 17 hours, and nine minutes.

The crew, made of three Catalans and a fourth member from the Spanish region of Murcia, rowed the 3,000 nautical miles between the Canary Islands and the Caribbean country.

Arriving at Nelson's Dockyard English Harbour at 12:11 am local time (6:30 am CET), the team has become the first Spanish to win The MacAskill Trophy.

Joaquim Planells, Juan Bautista Romero, Sergi Franch, and Martí Ramírez have crowned themselves champions of the world's toughest rowing competition.

"It has been mentally very difficult to manage, and in the end, we reached Antigua in the first place," Planells said in a recorded statement.

Crossing the ocean has not been an easy challenge, as the team had no assistance during the row, no stops, and the only propulsion allowed was the paddles. On the ship, Ocean Cats had two solar energy panels, automatic and manual desalination systems, and the electronic equipment required.

Food was freeze-dried, and rowers consumed over one million calories during the competition. 

A shark, eight-meter waves, and fatigue

Ocean Cats challenges continued well after surpassing the other 42 competitors. 

One of the main issues was staying without electricity and trying to get it back during a storm with waves of eight-meter heights. Another problem was when the boat's keel broke or the enormous fatigue felt by athletes as they spent 12 hours rowing.

When the finishing line was close enough, a three-meter shark attack surprised the team on the last day; lucky enough the boat and sailors left unharmed. 

The winning sets the final phase of the Ocean Cats project that highlighted the problems our seas and oceans face because of a large number of plastic products being thrown into the waters.