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Dream boat<br />
It’s the butt that gets <strong>it</strong>, apparently. The butt and the hands. Those<br />
are the pressure points when you’re rowing two hours on, two hours<br />
off, for 68 days. “Wh<strong>it</strong>e spir<strong>it</strong> on the hands is qu<strong>it</strong>e good,” Ollie<br />
says, “and on the arrr … er … butt, as well,” he says, unsure<br />
whether the Saxon word “arse” is pol<strong>it</strong>e enough for an interview.<br />
“The sea is teeming w<strong>it</strong>h sharks and all sorts of fish, whales,<br />
dolphins – we’ll see all of that,” he adds. “Apparently the wildlife is<br />
amazing. I think we’ll be qu<strong>it</strong>e wary of the sharks. I don’t think we’ll<br />
be swimming around for pleasure for very long...”<br />
Ed chips in: “There is the need <strong>to</strong> clean barnacles off the base<br />
of the boat so <strong>it</strong>’ll be whoever draws the short straw.”<br />
Ollie – Oliver – is a 28-year-old chartered surveyor w<strong>it</strong>h Strutt &<br />
Parker on Hill Street. His brother Ed is two years older and also a<br />
surveyor, although these days he works as a headhunter.<br />
Along w<strong>it</strong>h friends Captain James Kayll, a 28-year-old army<br />
officer serving w<strong>it</strong>h The Light Dragoons, and 28-year-old CBRE<br />
surveyor Tom Kelly, they’re in training for one of the most gruelling<br />
adventures on earth – so <strong>to</strong>ugh that they will each lose two s<strong>to</strong>ne.<br />
They’re planning <strong>to</strong> row across the Indian Ocean next April – a<br />
<strong>to</strong>tal of 3,100 nautical miles. Their sponsor package states w<strong>it</strong>h an<br />
odd exuberance: “Extreme fatigue, crippling sores, mental stresses,<br />
fear and isolation will be commonplace in their daily lives.”<br />
So, what on earth are they up <strong>to</strong>? “Ed and I, when we were<br />
growing up, had lots of dreams about doing something like this,”<br />
Ollie says. “We were in <strong>Mayfair</strong> in a pub having a few beers and I<br />
saw this and I thought, this is exactly what we want. So, I turned <strong>to</strong><br />
Ed and he said, ‘Yeah, bang on’. There were two other people I<br />
went <strong>to</strong> uni w<strong>it</strong>h and <strong>it</strong> seemed natural <strong>to</strong> get them involved: Kaylie<br />
and Kells. So, we made a decision two years ago <strong>to</strong> do <strong>it</strong>.”<br />
Ed is the only one who is married, and he adm<strong>it</strong>s <strong>it</strong> has taken<br />
him a long time <strong>to</strong> persuade his wife – “she’s still not convinced”.<br />
Their parents aren’t exactly overwhelmed e<strong>it</strong>her. “It’s been qu<strong>it</strong>e<br />
hard convincing the family,” Ollie says, “because <strong>it</strong>’s both sons<br />
going off. My parents are not risk takers. My father’s in the church<br />
and he says, ‘I don’t know qu<strong>it</strong>e where you got all this from’.”<br />
During the WoodVale Indian Ocean Race, the four will carry out<br />
oceanographic research – measuring salin<strong>it</strong>y, a cr<strong>it</strong>ical ecological<br />
fac<strong>to</strong>r, for example – and will be subject <strong>to</strong> physiological research.<br />
Dr Nick Knight will carry out tests on the rowers throughout training,<br />
during the race and after the race.<br />
The team will also be raising funds for The Light Dragoons<br />
LEFT: OLLIE AND ED GET IN TRAINING<br />
MORE THAN 200 PEOPLE<br />
HAVE ROWED ACROSS THE<br />
ATLANTIC, 12 HAVE WALKED<br />
ON THE MOON, BUT ONLY<br />
11 HAVE ROWED ACROSS<br />
THE INDIAN OCEAN – UNTIL<br />
NOW. MAYFAIR SURVEYOR<br />
OLLIE WELLS, HIS OLDER<br />
BROTHER ED AND TWO<br />
TEAMMATES GET READY<br />
TO ROW 3,100 MILES.<br />
ERIK BROWN REPORTS<br />
THIS BOAT, FROM A PREVIOUS WOODVALE EXPEDITION, IS<br />
SIMILAR TO THE ONE THE BOYS WILL BE USING<br />
Char<strong>it</strong>able Trust (The Colonel’s Fund), Compassion UK, Access<br />
Sport and The Mark Evison Foundation. Lieutenant Mark Evison<br />
was a friend who was shot and killed, aged 26, while serving in<br />
Afghanistan. The foundation set up in his name provides funds for<br />
the personal development of young people aged 16-30.<br />
The boat the four are having built in Cornwall is 29ft and has a<br />
carbon-fibre shell. There are two rowing stations and one mattress.<br />
When they’re not rowing, the crew will be sleeping or cooking.<br />
Temperatures will be fierce – especially near Australia – and weather<br />
and currents unpredictable. There will be times when they’ll be<br />
going backwards, caught in powerful currents.<br />
And, amazingly, <strong>it</strong>’s a race. Teams from all over the world are<br />
competing. The fastest time in 2009 was 68 days, 19 hours and 40<br />
minutes. The <strong>Mayfair</strong> team is hoping <strong>to</strong> break that record.<br />
First they have <strong>to</strong> raise some money, and on Friday, Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 29<br />
they’re staging The Indian Ocean Char<strong>it</strong>y Ball at the Hurlingham<br />
Club in West London. The boat they’re going <strong>to</strong> sail in will be there,<br />
along w<strong>it</strong>h James Pearson’s Trio from Ronnie Scott’s. Tickets range<br />
from £110 <strong>to</strong> £3,000 for a table of 12 (rsvpchar<strong>it</strong>yball@gmail.com).<br />
The aim is ro raise £100,000 for char<strong>it</strong>y on that night alone.<br />
And they do need help, these guys. They borrowed a boat for<br />
the Henley Regatta and rowed up and down the Thames for two<br />
days. “Apparently some guy on the bank said we were the worst<br />
rowers he’d ever seen,” says Ollie. “But we managed <strong>to</strong> do <strong>it</strong><br />
w<strong>it</strong>hout any accidents – and we got lots of attention.”<br />
Sponsorships opportun<strong>it</strong>ies are now open. For details, go <strong>to</strong><br />
www.indianocean3100.com.<br />
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char<strong>it</strong>y