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Ocean rowing boat O28

The Whaleboat O28 is a fully equipped, high-tech ocean rowing boat, with cabins, ready to take on any ocean. We are incredibly proud of her lines, and even more of the top quality build and engineering.
Life on board an O28 is easier, as she is filled to the rim with new solutions for common ocean rowing challenges.

Learn more about the Whaleboat O28

Open water rowboat C23

Whaleboat started developing rowboats in 2005. Our first builds were one-off ‘open’ rowboats, without cabins. Rowing these one-off boats ourselves for thousands of miles at sea armed us with deep knowledge about what makes a rowboat work well in all possible conditions, geographical and meteorological. This knowledge and experience resulted in the award-winning C23, the most versatile adventure rowboat in the world.
Our customers have rowed C23s from the North Sea to as far as the Banda sea,  have surfed them down the waves of iconic European surf spots and camped on some of the most remote beaches in the world.
With the C23 you are assured to live adventure at its purest.

Learn more about the Whaleboat C23

C23

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whaleboat_boatbuilding

Whaleboat

whaleboat_boatbuilding

View

Apr 7

Open
*** Front Row *** Captain’s log excerpts *** We set off from Portimaõ, Portugal on the 25th of February at 10.15 am, after careful deliberation with our weather router Fritz. Weather conditions were far from perfect to start, 4m waves from the WNW - remains of a mid-Atlantic storm - and wind from the WNW. Quite a rough start, but not to worry, things should improve the following days. The goal was to head out as far west as possible, then go south, pushed by the prevailing north winds. Once south of Madeira we would start the crossing west, even as high as the 28th latitude! A cunning plan this was, the standard route is to start the crossing between the Canaries and Cabo Verde, latitude 19th and lower, the easier option because of the more constant trade winds pushing the boat across. But going this far south would make the trip to Miami even longer! And we had an extra 1350 NM / 2500 km to row even as the crow flies, on top of the 2700 NM / 5000 km for the crossing. Unfortunately, from the first night Jelle got seasick and Gijs and I had to rearrange our shifts, meaning even less sleep. Well, no biggy I figured, seasickness in these conditions is part of the game. In fact I was expecting this to happen. When Jelle and I rowed along Indonesia before, he got seasick often. Besides, I wasn’t feeling too great myself. Building the new boat, setting up the campaign, finding sponsors in these challenging times, all within 1 year, appeared to had influenced my sea-legs! I felt exhausted and nauseous. Even threw up an orange juice, quite the surprise for me! Never had been seasick in my life. Continue reading in the comments below... #jointhefrontrow #oceanrowing #captainslog #logs #whaleboatO28 #waves #portimao #captain #rowing #canaryislands #tenerife #navigation #surf

*** Front Row *** Captain’s log excerpts ***

We set off from Portimaõ, Portugal on the 25th of February at 10.15 am, after careful deliberation with our weather router Fritz. Weather conditions were far from perfect to start, 4m waves from the WNW - remains of a mid-Atlantic storm - and wind from the WNW. Quite a rough start, but not to worry, things should improve the following days.
The goal was to head out as far west as possible, then go south, pushed by the prevailing north winds. Once south of Madeira we would start the crossing west, even as high as the 28th latitude! A cunning plan this was, the standard route is to start the crossing between the Canaries and Cabo Verde, latitude 19th and lower, the easier option because of the more constant trade winds pushing the boat across. But going this far south would make the trip to Miami even longer! And we had an extra 1350 NM / 2500 km to row even as the crow flies, on top of the 2700 NM / 5000 km for the crossing.
Unfortunately, from the first night Jelle got seasick and Gijs and I had to rearrange our shifts, meaning even less sleep. Well, no biggy I figured, seasickness in these conditions is part of the game. In fact I was expecting this to happen. When Jelle and I rowed along Indonesia before, he got seasick often. Besides, I wasn’t feeling too great myself. Building the new boat, setting up the campaign, finding sponsors in these challenging times, all within 1 year, appeared to had influenced my sea-legs! I felt exhausted and nauseous. Even threw up an orange juice, quite the surprise for me! Never had been seasick in my life.

Continue reading in the comments below...

#jointhefrontrow #oceanrowing #captainslog #logs #whaleboatO28 #waves #portimao #captain #rowing #canaryislands #tenerife #navigation #surf ...

whaleboat_boatbuilding

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Mar 10

Open
***ANNOUNCEMENT*** • It is with a heavy heart that we must announce that the crew of the Front Row expedition are now preparing to land in the Canary Islands. • Due to extreme and unabated seasickness for one of our crew, the skipper has deemed the expedition too dangerous to continue without making land. • This decision is a crushing blow to the whole crew, as well as the wider support team, but as a responsible skipper Koen had no other option. • As the details of the crew's landing plan come to light, we’ll make sure to keep you all up to date on our social media channels. #jointhefrontrow

***ANNOUNCEMENT***
•
It is with a heavy heart that we must announce that the crew of the Front Row expedition are now preparing to land in the Canary Islands.
•
Due to extreme and unabated seasickness for one of our crew, the skipper has deemed the expedition too dangerous to continue without making land.
•
This decision is a crushing blow to the whole crew, as well as the wider support team, but as a responsible skipper Koen had no other option.
•
As the details of the crew's landing plan come to light, we’ll make sure to keep you all up to date on our social media channels.

#jointhefrontrow ...

whaleboat_boatbuilding

View

Mar 3

Open
Our intrepid adventurers may have gone to sea in a tiny boat, but that’s not to say it is limited in its technology. And whilst we wait for our rowers to adjust to life at sea (so that they can have the energy to send footage home), this pre-recorded video shines a light on the Whaleboat’s unique autopilot system. 🎬 • Many rowing boats (if they have an autopilot at all) will use a tiller system, i.e. a lever or ram that pushes the rudder one way or another based on a bearing. Most tillers are designed for faster moving vessels, and so when applied to such a slow moving boat, it is constantly adjusting causing them to wear out, overheat, or simply break. 😩 • The Whaleboat has a more solid solution; one that is integrated with the chart plotter. Our system is connected to the rudder by an electrical actuator with a clutch system which takes a lot of strain off the steering components. The construction also takes up zero cabin space, but is still easily accessible. 🙌 • The benefits of this system go beyond reliability, ease of access and maintenance: The crew can program a route in the chart plotter (all the way to Miami if they so wished), and as long as they keep rowing and don’t need to change course because of the weather, that autopilot will get them to Miami! 🇺🇲💪 • In the case of an emergency, or for tight manoeuvres in a marina, they can switch to a manual steering system from the deck, that overrides the autopilot (more on that soon!) 🔜 • The boys are feeling a lot better, and all mouths aboard the boat are now eating which is fantastic! 😋 • The land support team are really enjoying the engagement from you all! So let us know if there is anything you want to know about this amazing crossing. Tell us in the comments and we can cover it in a post soon! 🙏 --- Read about the ocean crossing on www.jointhefrontrow.be - Main partner: @Libecohome - Creative geniuses: Yanina and Felix from @andre_and_leon at www.andreleon.be - #whaleboat #jointhefrontrow #boatbuildingisanart #libeco #whaleboatO28 #Braca-sport

Our intrepid adventurers may have gone to sea in a tiny boat, but that’s not to say it is limited in its technology. And whilst we wait for our rowers to adjust to life at sea (so that they can have the energy to send footage home), this pre-recorded video shines a light on the Whaleboat’s unique autopilot system. 🎬
•
Many rowing boats (if they have an autopilot at all) will use a tiller system, i.e. a lever or ram that pushes the rudder one way or another based on a bearing. Most tillers are designed for faster moving vessels, and so when applied to such a slow moving boat, it is constantly adjusting causing them to wear out, overheat, or simply break. 😩
•
The Whaleboat has a more solid solution; one that is integrated with the chart plotter. Our system is connected to the rudder by an electrical actuator with a clutch system which takes a lot of strain off the steering components. The construction also takes up zero cabin space, but is still easily accessible. 🙌
•
The benefits of this system go beyond reliability, ease of access and maintenance: The crew can program a route in the chart plotter (all the way to Miami if they so wished), and as long as they keep rowing and don’t need to change course because of the weather, that autopilot will get them to Miami! 🇺🇲💪
•
In the case of an emergency, or for tight manoeuvres in a marina, they can switch to a manual steering system from the deck, that overrides the autopilot (more on that soon!) 🔜
•
The boys are feeling a lot better, and all mouths aboard the boat are now eating which is fantastic! 😋
•
The land support team are really enjoying the engagement from you all! So let us know if there is anything you want to know about this amazing crossing. Tell us in the comments and we can cover it in a post soon! 🙏
---
Read about the ocean crossing on www.jointhefrontrow.be
-
Main partner: @Libecohome
-
Creative geniuses: Yanina and Felix from @andre_and_leon at www.andreleon.be
-
#whaleboat #jointhefrontrow #boatbuildingisanart #libeco #whaleboatO28 #Braca-sport ...

whaleboat_boatbuilding

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Mar 2

Open
All About Navigation. The crew are now onto day 6 of their voyage, and conditions haven’t been particularly kind: Bad weather is making life difficult for them, with cold, wet nights and seasickness as a result. 🤢 • So with crashing waves and bad weather, in the pitch dark, and facing backwards – how on earth can they navigate?! 🤷‍♀ • This pre-recorded video “All about Navigation”, is episode 3 of our "What do you need to cross an ocean in a rowing boat" series, and the crew explain how all the onboard technology, keeps them on track. 📏 • As you can see, the Whaleboat has a lot of clever kit on board, GPS, Chart plotters, a custom autopilot system, but their secret weapon is Fritz! 🙋‍♂‍ • Fritz the weather router (we introduced him a while back) – will advise the crew every day of the best direction to row in to take advantage of the weather, currents and sea state. ⛈🌊 • Sometimes Fritz will give co-ordinates to aim for, sometimes he’ll just give a direction to row. The crew can enter either the co-ordinates or the bearing into their chart plotter, which talks to their autopilot, which controls their rudder…so all the crew need to do is row, and not fall in! 🚣 • Whilst sat in the rowing positions, illuminated digital read outs tell the rowers some of the detail that is being shown on the chart plotter inside the cabin. Their bearing, speed, and distance are all displayed which allows them to keep an eye on their progress. And if they’re approaching another vessel an alarm will sound allowing them to contact the vessel on the radio to make sure they don’t hit each other! 💥 • Thankfully the worst of the seasickness seems behind them and the crew are starting to settle into their brutal shift pattern. 💪 - Read more at www.jointhefrontrow.be - Main partner: @Libecohome - Creative geniuses: Yanina & Felix from @andre_and_leon at www.andreleon.be --- #whaleboat #jointhefrontrow #boatbuildingisanart #oceanrowing #whaleboatO28 #Braca-sport #row --- @4gold.official @scurion @mother.life.official @viveshogeschool @sevenstaryachttransport @antwerpmaritimeacademy @taubevideo @shift_videoproductions @grafitypselfadhesiveproducts @one2seven_algarve @igepabelux @weareelements.eu

All About Navigation. The crew are now onto day 6 of their voyage, and conditions haven’t been particularly kind: Bad weather is making life difficult for them, with cold, wet nights and seasickness as a result. 🤢
•
So with crashing waves and bad weather, in the pitch dark, and facing backwards – how on earth can they navigate?! 🤷‍♀
•
This pre-recorded video “All about Navigation”, is episode 3 of our "What do you need to cross an ocean in a rowing boat" series, and the crew explain how all the onboard technology, keeps them on track. 📏
•
As you can see, the Whaleboat has a lot of clever kit on board, GPS, Chart plotters, a custom autopilot system, but their secret weapon is Fritz! 🙋‍♂‍
•
Fritz the weather router (we introduced him a while back) – will advise the crew every day of the best direction to row in to take advantage of the weather, currents and sea state. ⛈🌊
•
Sometimes Fritz will give co-ordinates to aim for, sometimes he’ll just give a direction to row. The crew can enter either the co-ordinates or the bearing into their chart plotter, which talks to their autopilot, which controls their rudder…so all the crew need to do is row, and not fall in! 🚣
•
Whilst sat in the rowing positions, illuminated digital read outs tell the rowers some of the detail that is being shown on the chart plotter inside the cabin. Their bearing, speed, and distance are all displayed which allows them to keep an eye on their progress. And if they’re approaching another vessel an alarm will sound allowing them to contact the vessel on the radio to make sure they don’t hit each other! 💥
•
Thankfully the worst of the seasickness seems behind them and the crew are starting to settle into their brutal shift pattern. 💪
-
Read more at www.jointhefrontrow.be
-
Main partner: @Libecohome
-
Creative geniuses: Yanina & Felix from @andre_and_leon at www.andreleon.be
---
#whaleboat #jointhefrontrow #boatbuildingisanart #oceanrowing #whaleboatO28 #Braca-sport #row
---
@4gold.official
@scurion
@mother.life.official
@viveshogeschool
@sevenstaryachttransport
@antwerpmaritimeacademy
@taubevideo
@shift_videoproductions
@grafitypselfadhesiveproducts
@one2seven_algarve
@igepabelux
@weareelements.eu ...

whaleboat_boatbuilding

View

Feb 25

Open
And they are off!!! 🚣 • Shortly after 10:00am local time on the 25th February 2021 the Front Row began: After a huge effort to get to the startline Koen De Gezelle, Gijs Vanden Bogaerde and Jelle Veyt have now pushed away from Portuguese land. If all goes to plan, the next piece of land they touch will be some 7,000km away, in Miami... and this crew will be the first people in history to row non-stop and unassisted from mainland Europe to mainland USA! 🇪🇺🌊🚣‍♂‍🌊🇺🇸 • They are crossing in a carbon fibre Whaleboat O28 ocean rowing boat named ‘Jan Martens’. Named in honour of Koen’s boat building mentor, it is perhaps the most progressive ocean rowing boat in the world, with rain water collection, a zero waste policy, a thermal solar unit, a hydroponic greenhouse (yes you are reading that right!), and more prototyping technology to create a self-sufficient tiny house on a big ocean. 😲 • The crew on board the Jan Martens require knowledge of the vessel inside and out and significant mental fortitude to take on an adventure of this magnitude. @Koendegezelle is the owner of the Whaleboat company, he built Jan Martens, and @gusengineering is an engineer who works closely with Koen in the development and construction of the boat. As a professional adventurer, @jelleveyt 's mental fortitude cannot be questioned. Not only did he cycle to the startline in Portugal from Belgium, when he gets to Miami, he will cycle on to Alaska as part of the "Secutec Seven Summits" challenge. • It is amazing to see this amazing team finally able to begin their epic voyage. How long will they be at sea? The truth is, nobody knows! We estimate around 80 to 90 days, but as nobody has done this... the team will be finding out as they make their way across the globe. This will be a fascinating adventure to follow! 🌍 • This phenomenal project is not possible without the generous help of so many supporters. Donations are gratefully received over at www.jointhefrontrow.be/#donations. --- Find out more at www.jointhefrontrow.be --- 📸 @ricardofaithpeacelove Creative geniuses @andre_and_leon --- #jointhefrontrow #boatbuildingisanart #libeco #whaleboatO28 #oceanrowing #endurance #adventure #rowing

And they are off!!! 🚣
•
Shortly after 10:00am local time on the 25th February 2021 the Front Row began: After a huge effort to get to the startline Koen De Gezelle, Gijs Vanden Bogaerde and Jelle Veyt have now pushed away from Portuguese land. If all goes to plan, the next piece of land they touch will be some 7,000km away, in Miami... and this crew will be the first people in history to row non-stop and unassisted from mainland Europe to mainland USA! 🇪🇺🌊🚣‍♂‍🌊🇺🇸
•
They are crossing in a carbon fibre Whaleboat O28 ocean rowing boat named ‘Jan Martens’. Named in honour of Koen’s boat building mentor, it is perhaps the most progressive ocean rowing boat in the world, with rain water collection, a zero waste policy, a thermal solar unit, a hydroponic greenhouse (yes you are reading that right!), and more prototyping technology to create a self-sufficient tiny house on a big ocean. 😲
•
The crew on board the Jan Martens require knowledge of the vessel inside and out and significant mental fortitude to take on an adventure of this magnitude. @Koendegezelle is the owner of the Whaleboat company, he built Jan Martens, and @gusengineering is an engineer who works closely with Koen in the development and construction of the boat. As a professional adventurer, @jelleveyt 's mental fortitude cannot be questioned. Not only did he cycle to the startline in Portugal from Belgium, when he gets to Miami, he will cycle on to Alaska as part of the "Secutec Seven Summits" challenge.
•
It is amazing to see this amazing team finally able to begin their epic voyage. How long will they be at sea? The truth is, nobody knows! We estimate around 80 to 90 days, but as nobody has done this... the team will be finding out as they make their way across the globe. This will be a fascinating adventure to follow! 🌍
•
This phenomenal project is not possible without the generous help of so many supporters. Donations are gratefully received over at www.jointhefrontrow.be/#donations.
---
Find out more at www.jointhefrontrow.be
---
📸 @ricardofaithpeacelove
Creative geniuses @andre_and_leon
---
#jointhefrontrow #boatbuildingisanart #libeco #whaleboatO28 #oceanrowing #endurance #adventure #rowing ...

whaleboat_boatbuilding

View

Feb 24

Open
Fritz the weather router…….he says ‘YES!’ 👍 • Thursday the 25th February…the Whaleboat ‘Jan Martens’ will push off from the shores of Portimão, to begin the ‘Front Row’ expedition with the intention of being the first boat in history to row non-stop from mainland Europe to mainland USA! 🇵🇹🌊🚣🌊🇺🇸 • Tomorrow, Koen, Gijs and Jelle, will clamber into their cutting edge vessel, aim their bow at the horizon, and start rowing! 🌅 • We’ll be there throughout to highlight this incredible adventure, and why this boat is making everyone in the ocean rowing world sit up and take notice! 📝 • All eyes on Whaleboat tomorrow – this is an expedition not to be missed! 👀 • Read about the ocean crossing on www.jointhefrontrow.be --- Main partner: @libecohome --- Creative geniuses: Yanina and Felix from @andre_and_leon at www.andreleon.be --- #whaleboat #jointhefrontrow #boatbuildingisanart #atlantic #ocean #atlanticocean #oceanrowing #rowing #mainlandtomainland #libeco #whaleboatO28 #Bracasport #rowing #adventure #row #coastalrowing #challenge #rowers #rowtheatlantic

Fritz the weather router…….he says ‘YES!’ 👍
•
Thursday the 25th February…the Whaleboat ‘Jan Martens’ will push off from the shores of Portimão, to begin the ‘Front Row’ expedition with the intention of being the first boat in history to row non-stop from mainland Europe to mainland USA! 🇵🇹🌊🚣🌊🇺🇸
•
Tomorrow, Koen, Gijs and Jelle, will clamber into their cutting edge vessel, aim their bow at the horizon, and start rowing! 🌅
•
We’ll be there throughout to highlight this incredible adventure, and why this boat is making everyone in the ocean rowing world sit up and take notice! 📝
•
All eyes on Whaleboat tomorrow – this is an expedition not to be missed! 👀
•
Read about the ocean crossing on www.jointhefrontrow.be
---
Main partner: @libecohome
---
Creative geniuses: Yanina and Felix from @andre_and_leon at www.andreleon.be
---
#whaleboat #jointhefrontrow #boatbuildingisanart #atlantic #ocean #atlanticocean #oceanrowing #rowing #mainlandtomainland #libeco #whaleboatO28 #Bracasport #rowing #adventure #row #coastalrowing #challenge #rowers #rowtheatlantic ...

whaleboat_boatbuilding

View

Feb 21

Open
Episode two of our "things you need to cross an ocean in a rowing boat" series, is called 'All About Water'! 🎬 • The crew of Jan Martens will be at sea for a long time. So where do the guys store all that drinking water? In short – they do not! 😮 • Instead, this boat is fitted with a desalination unit, otherwise known as a watermaker. 💦 • Gone are the days of ‘water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink’, now we have the technology to make water on the fly! But how does it work? ⚙️ • @Mark_Devos is our watermaker guru, who knows all there is to know about these things. Put in the simplest possible terms – a pump draws water from the ocean and lifts it into the watermaker. It goes through some filters to get rid of the lumpy bits (seaweed, krill and other large contaminants, then hits a very tight membrane – so tight that under normal pressure the membrane is actually waterproof and cannot be permeated. The pump forces the salt water against the membrane at high pressure (around a thousand psi) - this forces the pores in the membrane to open slightly (and we are talking 'slightly' on a molecular basis!), which is enough to allow fresh water to trickle through but the salt molecules are too large and so they are sent back into the ocean as waste in the form of very salty brine. This process is called ‘Reverse Osmosis’, and is the technical term for squashing water through an impossibly fine sieve until the salt falls out! 🧂 • This magical box that makes saltwater drinkable will be their lifeline for this crossing, so it's important that not only do they know how to fix it when it breaks, but they also have a backup manual water maker if all else fails. 👍 • Unfortunately, the weather has once again changed, and the launch date has now had to be put back to Thursday or Friday this week. Frustrating, disappointing, but safety is paramount on an expedition like this, so it's an important step towards a successful crossing. 🌤 • Huge thanks to Holland Nauta for the speedy delivery of our watermaker! 🏎💨 • Creative geniuses: Yanina and Felix from @andre_and_leon at www.andreleon.be • #whaleboat #jointhefrontrow #whaleboatO28 @schenkerwatermakers

Episode two of our "things you need to cross an ocean in a rowing boat" series, is called 'All About Water'! 🎬
•
The crew of Jan Martens will be at sea for a long time. So where do the guys store all that drinking water? In short – they do not! 😮
•
Instead, this boat is fitted with a desalination unit, otherwise known as a watermaker. 💦
•
Gone are the days of ‘water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink’, now we have the technology to make water on the fly! But how does it work? ⚙️
•
@Mark_Devos is our watermaker guru, who knows all there is to know about these things. Put in the simplest possible terms – a pump draws water from the ocean and lifts it into the watermaker. It goes through some filters to get rid of the lumpy bits (seaweed, krill and other large contaminants, then hits a very tight membrane – so tight that under normal pressure the membrane is actually waterproof and cannot be permeated. The pump forces the salt water against the membrane at high pressure (around a thousand psi) - this forces the pores in the membrane to open slightly (and we are talking 'slightly' on a molecular basis!), which is enough to allow fresh water to trickle through but the salt molecules are too large and so they are sent back into the ocean as waste in the form of very salty brine. This process is called ‘Reverse Osmosis’, and is the technical term for squashing water through an impossibly fine sieve until the salt falls out! 🧂
•
This magical box that makes saltwater drinkable will be their lifeline for this crossing, so it's important that not only do they know how to fix it when it breaks, but they also have a backup manual water maker if all else fails. 👍
•
Unfortunately, the weather has once again changed, and the launch date has now had to be put back to Thursday or Friday this week. Frustrating, disappointing, but safety is paramount on an expedition like this, so it's an important step towards a successful crossing. 🌤
•
Huge thanks to Holland Nauta for the speedy delivery of our watermaker! 🏎💨
•
Creative geniuses: Yanina and Felix from @andre_and_leon at www.andreleon.be
•
#whaleboat #jointhefrontrow #whaleboatO28 @schenkerwatermakers ...