“Let’s cross the Atlantic together, I’ll cover the rowing“
says Gabi Schenkel (42), the first Swiss woman to row solo across the Atlantic in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. It’s considered the world’s toughest row and starts in La Gomera (Canary Islands) on Dec.12. Gabi will reach the finish line in Antigua after 48-70 day, depending on winds and weather. She’s rowing to raise awareness for the protection of our oceans and you can join her with your name on her boat by donating miles.
While living in Switzerland, without direct access to the sea, Gabi trained a lot in the early mornings on lake Zurich but thanks to her LiteSPORT+, also profited from busy afternoons among the big and choppy water creating boats.
“I even went on a night row with probably every motor and cruise boat on lake Zurich to watch the fireworks at the Zurich festival. It was exhilarating to not see when and from which side the next wave would come at me. Just with intuition, I reached the marina at 1 in the morning and only then realized I had water on board covering half of my feet. Not once did I feel uncomfortable or unstable while rowing.”
While her big boat, named Miss Universe, weights 625kg, Gabi considered rowing on her Liteboat the best training to prepare her for the upcoming Challenge.
“I was the perfect setup to learn to feel the water and the waves, making it easy to adapt to the big boat.”
