Early 2021, three Belgian friends – a boatbuilder, an adventurer and an engineer – will cross the Atlantic Ocean by man power, in a row boat. We depart from Portimao (Portugal) to set course to Miami (US). Our great adventure will take us approximately 3 months and the boat will be our home during that long time. A Tiny house on a big ocean! However, the boat will be more than our home and means of transport, it will primarily become a “research pod” for several experiments.
Koen De Gezelle
He builds ocean rowboats for a living and is basically a professional tough guy. He lives on coffee and continues to work on his passion, even the day after his recent thumb surgery.
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Koen and Jelle have been rowing together for one month in Indonesia, on the way to Papua. They survived that, so hopefully they'll get along for another 3 months on this boat!
Jelle Veyt
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As a Physio he'll be taking care of the physical and medical preparation for the Front Row. He earned his rowing experience by rowing from Java to Papua in 6 months (in a Whaleboat C23), where Koen mentored him in the first part.
There he learned that sea sickness will be his biggest challenge to cross the ocean!
Gijs Vanden Bogaerde
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Gijs, aka Hands of destruction, has yet to figure out why he's joining. He loves being at sea and he doesn't want to miss this opportunity to cross the ocean. However it's mostly the FOMO driving him.
The Front Row project wouldn’t be possible without the generous help of so many supporters, and you can be one of them. Don’t forget to leave a message for the team!
When you click the ‚donate‘ button below this form, you will be taken to the chosen payment method interface. After payment you will be redirected to this page. Give the team a motivational shout in the message field!
You can also support the Front Row project on Gofundme. Gofundme accepts only credit and debit card payments. Click the button below to open the Gofundme project page.
Main partner
We are proud to have Libeco as our main sponsor
Supporting partners
Follow the Front Row on Instagram @whaleboat_boatbuilding or #jointhefrontrow,
and on Facebook.
***Skippers 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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De Jan Martens heeft gisteren het ruime sop gekozen! Een tijdje geleden besloten we, als IGEPA, de droom van 3 avonturiers te ondersteunen.
Doel : 7000km roeien. Van Portugal naar Miami.
Zoals bij zoveel uitdagingen loerde ook hier Murphy om de hoek. Terwijl we in België genoten van de eerste lentezon en bijhorende ijsjes werd Portugal geteisterd door een zware weersdepressie wat de start een weekje uitstelde.
Gisteren was het dan eindelijk zover. De Jan Martens met zijn bemanning werd te water gelaten.
Ook bij de Belgische pers ging dit niet onopgemerkt voorbij. Gisteren werd er zowel op VTM als VRT ruime aandacht besteed aan de start alsook aan het grotere avontuur dat Jelle Veyt aangaat. De hoogste berg van elk continent beklimmen en van berg naar berg te reizen door enkel menselijke energie te gebruiken.
Op onderstaande links kan u het nieuws bekijken waarbij het IGEPA logo regelmatig mooi in beeld komt. (wel een profiel aanmaken indien u er nog geen heeft)
https://www.vrt.be/.../het-journaal-het-journaal-laat.../ Vanaf minuut 13.40.
https://vtm.be/.../e21034aed-26aa-428e-9908-dfa29ac69463 Vanaf minuut 50.25.
Op https://whaleboat.be/frontrow/ kan u live tracken waar de boot zich bevindt.
Succes Jelle, Koen en Gijs!
#whaleboat #jointhefrontrow #igepabelux #adventure #livetracking #janmartens #goodluck
THEY ARE OFF! GO!!
Wish you a safe trip guys!
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Whaleboat ‘Jan Martens’ transatlantic project.
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Portimão-Miami on manpower.
2 to 3 months of rowing.
7000 km.
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Follow the adventurers live:
#jointhefrontrow
www.jointhefrontrow.be
whaleboat_boatbuilding
jelleveyt
gusengineering
Three guys; Koen, Jelle and Gijs, heading out from Portimao this morning on their great mission to row across the Atlantic to Florida.
“A tiny boat in a big ocean!”
Safe passage to you 👋
www.jointthefrontrow.be
#whaleboat
#whaleboatboatbuilding
#jointhefrontrow
#atlanticrow
#atlanticrowing
#atlanticrowingchallenge
Whilst we wait for the weather to stop messing around so that we can start rowing, we thought it was worth sharing a series with info on ’What do you need to row across an ocean??’🤓
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So here is the first episode, all about power!
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Ocean rowers need power for drinking water, steering, navigation tools, lights, comms systems, and even entertainment. Many teams have been challenged previously for many reasons; not enough solar panels, not enough sun shining, inefficient or damaged panels, not monitoring battery power carefully, or simply batteries that aren't up to the job. 👎
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To overcome these hurdles, we handed over to the electrical department... Rik and Cedric aka Sherlock Ohms and Dr Wattson! 🕵️
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Rik doesn't even use a multimeter anymore; he just uses his tongue. He's rated up to 3x400V AC! It's even been said that Cedric runs purely on solar power through his scalp, with a higher efficiency than the solar panels of the ISS! 🛰️
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As the first step to address this issue of power they went BIG with the solar panels. Not only have we now got highly efficient panels, we have also got a lot of them. ☀️
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Most of the energy will come from the solar panels on the port side (left hand side if standing in the boat looking forwards), because we will be rowing East to West and in the Northern Hemisphere so the sun will be on that side. However the efficiency of these panels means that the setup works for any route. 🗺️
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All of that energy is useless without energy storage. Our boat is cutting edge, so the normal lead acid batteries simply aren't on our shopping list. Instead we're using an enormous lithium battery! It's HUGE! 🔋
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Finally, the battery is monitored by a battery management system. This will be crucial - it means no more guessing, no more calculations on the back of a food packet. This tells us exactly what we have, when we have it, how much to use, etc, but it also stops the battery operating outside of its safe parameters. ⚠️
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Take a look at the video, where Gus explains all of this tech talk for you. More to come! 📹
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Currently the weather is lining up for a Monday launch - as soon as we know we'll announce it here! 🗣️🌞
No matter how much you’ve prepared, no matter how exciting the expedition – it’s always hard to say goodbye. 😥
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Goodbye to your loved ones, goodbye to your home, goodbye to your workshop, goodbye to Belgium! 👋🇧🇪
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And just as we were managing to do a first class job of holding back the tears – Yurith comes along with his trumpet and starts playing ‘The Sailors Salute’! 🎺😭
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WHO IS CUTTING ONIONS IN HERE?!!! 🔪🧅
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Now Koen and Gijs will begin their mammoth road trip, as they make their way out of Belgium, across France, across Spain, into Portugal and then right down to Potimão on the southern tip of the country. 🇵🇹
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Here they will make their final preparations for what will be a truly phenomenal ocean rowing expedition! 🌊🚣♂️
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Swipe the images to see the emotional leaving party 🥺
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Read about the ocean crossing on www.jointhefrontrow.be
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andreleon www.andreleon.be creative studio
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#oceanrowing #whaleboat #atlantic #ocean #mainlandtomainland #goodbye #bye #tears #sailorssalute #jointhefrontrow #whaleboatO28
Foodprep
One of the many behind-the-scenes jobs for a project this size: preparing food packages for each rower, in 24H rations. Days of work, now completed!
Thanks to our partners to fuel our adventure, @weareelements.eu with the freeze dried meals, and @4gold.official with specialised sports nutrition.
(Not sure what happened to the video, some drunk seems to be at the helm, but you get the feel of the pile of packages.)
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andreleon www.andreleon.be creative studio
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Read about the ocean crossing on www.jointhefrontrow.be
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#foodgloriousfood #foodstagram #food #foodpic #foodprep #foodcoma #foodpost #jointhefrontrow #Libeco #frontrow #whaleboatO28 #whaleboatboatbuilding #boatbuildingisanart #oceanrowboat #roeiboot #roeien #rowing #ocean #oceancrossing #oceanrowing #belgium #fromportugaltomiami #adventure #koendegezelle #jelleveyt #gijsvandenbogaerde #atlanticocean #2021 #andreandleon
Main partner @Libecohome
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@weareelements.eu
@4gold.official
@grafitypselfadhesiveproducts
@igepabelux
#Braca-sport
@viveshogeschool
@sevenstaryachttransport
@antwerpmaritimeacademy
@scurion
@mother.life.official
@redbullbe
@taubevideo
@shift_videoproductions
@andre_and_leon
I've made it to Portimao! Another episode of the Secutec Seven Summits is finished ✅
It was an eventful day where Jos accompanied me, then 20 km from portimao my crank axle broke, just 1km from his house. Great help by him and the local bike shop lifebikesalgarve ! Thank you very much!
Now it's time for rest, relax and lots of food. Soon I'll be rowing the ocean to Miami from here! Keep following for updates!
#secutec7summits #adventure #ocean #portugal🇵🇹 #portimao #cyclinglife #cycling #help #outdoors #7summits #bike #bikelife #jointhefrontrow #mountains #waves #humanpowered #usa #road
3 roeiers... 7016 km... Made in Belgium. Doel: Als eerste de route Portugal-Miami bevaren met een roeiboot - op een duurzame manier - en onderweg ook nog wetenschappelijk onderzoek uitvoeren.
Wie: Koen De Gezelle als bootbouwer en kapitein, avonturier Jelle Veyt en Gijs Vanden Bogaerde als ingenieur hopen volgende week het ruime sop te kiezen en binnen 70-90 dagen aan te meren in Miami.
Ook Igepa reist mee. De boot werd gebouwd op enkele meters van het Igepa gebouw, onze partner Grafityp stond in voor het wrappen van de boot in de kleuren van de hoofdsponsor Libeco.
Dit gebeurde met een PVC vrije folie bestand tegen de zwaarste weersomstandigheden (zout water, wrijving, onweer en metershoge golven). Voor de navigatie vertrouwen ze op zeekaarten en logboeken, door Igepa gedrukt op Synaps waterbestendig papier.
Wij wensen de drie avonturiers een voorspoedige vaart! Meer info en hun positie kunnen jullie in de volgende weken volgen via whaleboat.be.
#grafityp #igepabelux #igepa #jointhefrontrow #whaleboatO28 #madeinbelgium #belgium #adventure #koendegezelle #jelleveyt #gijsvandenbogaerde #agfa #duurzaamheid #zerowaste #pvcvrij #aalter
Front Row on the front page
We made it to the front page! Very happy to put ocean rowing in the picture, a positive note in between the daily numbers. Press coverage has been great so far, as we're getting closer to the start!
--- Read about the ocean crossing on www.jointhefrontrow.be ---
#frontpage #positivenews #news #gentenaar #9000 #negenduust #gent #instagent #jointhefrontrow #Libeco #frontrow #whaleboatO28 #whaleboatboatbuilding #roeiboot #roeien #rowing #ocean #oceancrossing #oceanrowing #belgium #fromportugaltomiami #adventure #koendegezelle #jelleveyt #gijsvandenbogaerde #atlanticocean #2021 #andreandleon
Meet Fritz Buyl, the Front Row weather router. In summer, Fritz eats a few weather charts for breakfast, heads to his daily job at the Oceanographic Meteorologic Station where he forecasts the weather, then goes on to send weather updates to professional competitors at sea, and before he goes to bed, he studies the latest Heavy weather sailing edition. In winter you can find him in Union Glacier Antarctica where he provides all forecasts for South Pole missions and adventurers alike.
His daily briefings will guide us across the ocean following the optimal route. Based on weather system forecasts he will set the course, so we can benefit from wind and currents, and avoid depressions.
Graphics by @andre_and_leon
#weatherrouting #weatheratsea #weather #weatherforecast #routing #marine #optimalcourse #jointhefrontrow #Libeco #frontrow #whaleboatO28 #whaleboatboatbuilding #roeiboot #roeien #rowing #ocean #oceancrossing #oceanrowing #belgium #fromportugaltomiami #adventure #koendegezelle #jelleveyt #gijsvandenbogaerde #atlanticocean #2021 #andreandleon