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We build high-end ocean rowboats for adventurers
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.
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.
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We help your adventure plans come true
Read about 20 years of designing and building rowing boats, the love for adventure and especially about our recent ocean expedition, this week in Knack magazine. (in Dutch)
Thank you for the article @ingridallaerts!
https://weekend.knack.be/lifestyle/magazine/drie-mannen-en-een-roeiboot/article-normal-1742021.html
#whaleboatO28 #oceanrowing #boatbuildingisanart #presscoverage #magazine
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Ever wondered what the Whaleboat O28 cabin interior looks like? Head over to whaleboat.be/O28 for details.
#whaleboatO28 #oceanrowing #oceanrowingboat #boatbuildingisanart
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The Whale’s back home. Roaming the North Sea.
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#oceanrowing #whaleboatO28 #jointhefrontrow
#northsea
@w.w.s.v @de.kust
Preparing for their ocean crossing later this year, pairs Team Migaloo spent last weekend at the Belgian coast for a first training in a Whaleboat 028. 30 NM on the North Sea are now done and dusted! Tristan and Aidan enjoyed surfing on a 2-knots spring-tide North Sea current. Not so much rowing against it though... nor beating against a 5bft Northeaster, full frontal on the bow. But they made it, smiling, after 10 hours of ocean rowing. Congratulations, and see you soon for more training!
#whaleboatO28 #TWAC2021 #teammigaloo #northsea #oceanrowing #taliskerwhiskyatlanticchallenge #jachthavenvvwblankenberge
@team_migaloo
Future ocean rowers! We will have a Whaleboat O28 ocean rowing boat on the water for viewing and try outs. Teams are welcome to test the boat on the North Sea in Blankenberge, Belgium, under the professional guidance of boatbuilder and licensed skipper Koen. Please send a PM for info on prices and availability. Book your weekend on the water now!
#whaleboatO28 #northsea #oceanrowing #rowing #adventure
@w.w.s.v @de.kust @visitblankenberge #expedition #explore #adventurerowing #rowtripping
That unique moment when a giant wave crashes on deck and blows you out of your shoes, or when the boat hits 15 knots, surfing down a wall of water, is always the moment someone forgot to turn on the camera, or the battery died just moments before the grand spectacle. And often, conditions were simply too rough and we were holding on for dear life, not thinking about the bloody camera.
So we have to do with less spectacular images from the ocean. Nevertheless they present a good view of the daily conditions we faced on the Atlantic during our row. Portuguese seamen had told us about this very strange year, with a lot of rain, cold and miserable. Frequent low pressure systems, creating winds from directions, abnormal for the time of year. And right they were! We experienced it all from the front row! 😏
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*** 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 logistics update
With the boat now in the Canaries instead of the US we have had to pull together a plan to bring it home. The original plan included a sponsored transport back to Europe by @sevenstaryachttransport. A new plan has come together on short notice. So many new friends helped out without hesitation. Our eternal gratitude goes to Jos and the Marina Puerto Chico officials for their professional help. Also a big thank you to Lea and Juliette for being the best fender Jan Martens ever had 🙂
@libecohome
#whaleboatO28 #oceanrowing #rowingboat #transport #travellift #boattrailer #canaries #islands #tenerife #jointhefrontrow
***Skipper's Update***
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The initial leg of our mainland to mainland row, from Portugal to the Canary Islands, proved to be exceedingly tough.
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Jelle’s persistent seasickness became so extreme that we decided to make land in Tenerife in the interests of safety.
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We arrived late yesterday afternoon in Marina Puerto Chico. A huge thank you must go to Fernando and the rest of the guys there that helped us in.
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Jelle will not be continuing this row, and, after considerable thought, we are deciding not to continue this journey. The team has a long history together, and each member brings specific qualities. Taking one member from the composition results in an incomplete crew. Additionally, due to exceptional delays, and changes in the climate, we are running too close to the hurricane season.
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You only need to glance at Jelle’s adventure CV to understand that he is an exceptionally tough individual, with extreme endurance ability and mental fortitude far greater than the average man… but seasickness is indiscriminate, and can be an exceptionally dangerous problem if ignored.
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The O28 Whaleboat has arrived in Tenerife in perfect condition, all systems worked as intended and it dealt with the extreme conditions with ease. This is something that we are very proud of.
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Whilst it is of course disappointing to be finishing the row early, our team is now stronger in friendship than ever before.
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It is time to get some rest, to recuperate and gather our thoughts, but we’ll update you all with a report on what worked well and what can be improved, in order to support future ocean rowing expeditions, helping to move the ocean rowing community forward.
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To all of our amazing supporters and sponsors… Thank you. Thank you for your support. Thank you for your compassion. Thank you for everything.
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Koen.
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Read about the ocean crossing on www.jointhefrontrow.be
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Main partner: @Libecohome
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Creative geniuses: Yanina and Felix from @andre_and_leon at www.andreleon.be
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#whaleboat #jointhefrontrow #boatbuildingisanart #atlantic #ocean #atlanticocean #oceanrowing
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***ANNOUNCEMENT***
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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.
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Due to extreme and unabated seasickness for one of our crew, the skipper has deemed the expedition too dangerous to continue without making land.
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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.
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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
***FIRST IMAGES BACK FROM THE OCEAN!!!***
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And the crew appear to be lying down on the job! What is going on?
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Well, you might have noticed the team pointing in a strange direction recently... this is due to the low pressure system north of them, which is creating north westerly winds. So the boys have had to deploy their para anchor... what is a para anchor? We've asked top-flight ocean rowing coach @duncroy1 to write our guest blog today to explain what a para anchor is! 👍🏻
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A parachute anchor is deployed in big seas and/or conditions which make forward progress either unsafe or not possible. The Para anchor is deployed off the bow of the boat, pulling the bow into the unfavourable conditions and therefore stabilising the boat. 🌊
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It also slows progress so boats don’t go in undesirable directions losing precious ground they have had to fight so hard to gain. Similarly to a normal parachute slowing your decent to earth 🪂 .
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Fun fact: a para anchor is also known as a sea anchor 🤓
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Myth busters: a para anchor is not a ‘power anchor’ and the team are not using a metal anchor because they are used when near land where the sea bed is shallow - unless the team has 4 miles of rope on board they won’t be deploying theirs! ⚓
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I hope this is of use 👍🏻
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Huge thanks to Duncan for explaining that - you can find out more about his services over at www.rowingroy.com 🙌
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Read more at www.jointhefrontrow.be
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Main partner: @Libecohome
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Creative geniuses: Yanina & Felix from @andre_and_leon at www.andreleon.be
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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. 🎬
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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. 😩
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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. 🙌
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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! 🇺🇲💪
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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!) 🔜
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The boys are feeling a lot better, and all mouths aboard the boat are now eating which is fantastic! 😋
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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! 🙏
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Read about the ocean crossing on www.jointhefrontrow.be
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Main partner: @Libecohome
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Creative geniuses: Yanina and Felix from @andre_and_leon at www.andreleon.be
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#whaleboat #jointhefrontrow #boatbuildingisanart #libeco #whaleboatO28 #Braca-sport