
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 (and charges a higher commission fee). Click the button below to open the Gofundme project page.
If you are a business, and considering sponsorship for the project, please get in touch about options.
Follow the Front Row on Instagram @whaleboat_boatbuilding or #jointhefrontrow,
and on Facebook.
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
B o a t r e v e a l
The foil for the Front Row ocean rowboat was printed and craftily applied by the team at @grafitypselfadhesiveproducts. Special care was taken to protect the film and laminate from the aggressive saltwater of the ocean. Edges are sealed, and protected with reflective film. A huge thank you for this generous offer!
#Grafityp #Grafiprint #Igepa #jointhefrontrow #whaleboatO28 #rowing #ocean #belgium #adventure #koendegezelle #jelleveyt #gijsvandenbogaerde #taubevideo #shift_videoproductions #andreandleon #LibecoHome
B o a t r e v e a l
The Front Row ocean rowboat is beatifully branded with Libeco visuals - the Front Row main sponsor. Our magnificent designers duo Andreleon did a masterful job of designing and providing the foil production files. With the great help of Pieter-Jan Baeck who mapped the hull with close-range photogrammetry.
#topdesign #linen #dreamteam #andreandleon #jointhefrontrow #whaleboatO28 #rowing #ocean #belgium #adventure #koendegezelle #jelleveyt #gijsvandenbogaerde #taubevideo #shift_videoproductions #LibecoHome
B o a t r e v e a l
Behold the Jan Martens, the magnificent ocean rowboat that will soon be our home for 7000+ kms across the Atlantic.
Why 'Jan Martens' you ask? Koen met Jan many years ago. From the first day, Jan became a mentor. Jan passionately shares his broad technical knowledge, unique philosophical insights, open mind and wide interests, never-failing bone-dry humour and above all his phenomenal storytelling talent.
Thank you Jan.
#passion #storyteller #mentor #apprentice #friendshipgoals #cigars #longnightswithlotsofbeersandsmoke #jointhefrontrow #whaleboatO28 #rowing #ocean #belgium #adventure #koendegezelle #jelleveyt #gijsvandenbogaerde #taubevideo #shift_videoproductions #andreandleon #LibecoHome
Thank you @Libecohome for hosting a very successful Front Row press event today. And many thanks to the press for picking up our project.
https://www.hln.be/meulebeke/vlamingen-willen-met-zelfgemaakte-boot-van-zeven-vierkante-meter-atlantische-oceaan-over-overleven-op-gevriesdroogde-voeding-en-gezuiverd-zeewater~a1ee0029/
https://kw.be/nieuws/samenleving/gijs-32-vaart-van-portugal-naar-miami-in-een-roeiboot-de-grootste-uitdaging-aan-de-start-geraken/
Photos @libeertmichel
#jointhefrontrow #LibecoHome #whaleboatO28 #andreandleon #rowing #ocean #belgium #adventure #koendegezelle #jelleveyt #gijsvandenbogaerde #sevenstaryachttransport #scurion #grafityp #4gold #veryvives #secutec #taubevideo #shift_videoproductions
Join the Libeco Front Row
My friends from the Join the libeco front row had their press presentation of the boat and their main sponsor libecohome today! Everything is getting ready and very excited to go.
The boat looks great and I'll be soon teaming up with them for the next episode of the Secutec Seven Summits!
📸andre_and_leon
#secutec7summits #adventure #boat #ocean #rowing #sea #press #portugal #usa #waves #humanpowered #rowinglife #jointhefrontrow #outdoors #libeco
Big shout-out to the Front Row supporting partners - welcome aboard!
Sevenstar Yacht Transport
Antwerp Maritime Acadamy
Waeterloos Accountantskantoor
Grafityp Selfadhesive Products
Elements
Ovinto
Secutec
Scurion
4Gold
Mother Self Sufficient Living
Vives Hogeschool
Igepa Belux
Red Bull
Taube Video Productions
Shift Vide Productions
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andreleon www.andreleon.be creative studio
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Main partner @Libecohome
@sevenstaryachttransport
@antwerpmaritimeacademy
@grafitypselfadhesiveproducts
@weareelements.eu
@scurion
@4gold.official
@mother.life.official
@viveshogeschool
@igepabelux
@redbullbe
@taubevideo
@shift_videoproductions
@andre_and_leon
@jelleveyt
#jointhefrontrow #whaleboatO28 #rowing #ocean #belgium #adventure #koendegezelle #jelleveyt #gijsvandenbogaerde #sevenstaryachttransport #scurion #grafityp #4gold #veryvives #secutec #taubevideo #shift_videoproductions #andreandleon #LibecoHome
Grafityp crosses the Atlantic Ocean with “JOIN THE FRONT ROW”
Koen De Gezelle (boat builder and captain), Jelle Veyt (physiotherapist) and Gijs Vanden Bogaert (sailor and engineer) are three brave Flemish rowers, who will cross the Atlantic Ocean from Portugal (Portimao) to Miami… They want to do this in two and a half months. It was our Belgian distributor IGEPA from Aalter who informed us of this project. And this project was recently also launched by the Flemish television channel VTM. A very prestigious and adventurous project, which Grafityp was eager to join.
All the more so, since the common thread in the story is “SUSTAINABILITY”.
The boat itself is almost 10 meters long and is made of an environmentally friendly synthetic material and covered with solar panels to generate the electricity. Other environmentally friendly sources of energy are hydrogen fuel and rechargeable lithium batteries. Vegetable food will be grown on board during the voyage. All waste will be recycled and composted. Furthermore, there is no plastic packaging anywhere on the boat. And they get their drink from rainwater (collection) and a device that can distill seawater into drinkable water.
The men will row in pairs, and they will alternate for a two-hour break.
For this project, the printable film and the matching laminate of Grafityp were of course chosen. In order to protect the film against the aggressive seawater, the edges at the waterline were protected with a reflective film (which is mandatory at sea for small ships) and the other edges were sealed.
A hellish job that Rudi en Johan managed to do in 3 days!
We will follow this project via satellite and will certainly keep you informed of this adventure on a regular basis.
Koen, Jelle and Gijs, we wish the best of luck and a lot of courage to complete this journey.
#Grafityp #Grafiprint #jointhefrontrow #Koendegezelle #jelleveyt #gijsvandenbogaert #Atlantic #Rowing #Sustainability #Igepa
Boat wrapping process...
The final result will follow soon.
grafitypselfadhesiveproducts
libecohome
#graphicdesign #boatwrapping #wrappingdesign #design #rowingboat #whaleboatO28 #libeco #grafityp #andreleon #andreandleon #graphicdesignduo #belgiumbased #rowingboatwrapping #thefrontrow #jointhefrontrow #frontrow #rowing #oceanrowing
One day till departure and I'm very excited! First of all, I'm wishing you all the best for 2021, may this year be more adventurous than the last one (or not, I don't know anymore 😜)
With this new year comes a new adventure.
Tomorrow I'm leaving to continue the Secutec Seven Summits this time: a 2500 km bike trip to Portugal. There I'm joining the Front Row with whaleboat_boatbuilding and gusengineering where we will cross the Atlantic ocean by rowboat to Miami. There it's another 10.000 km of cycling to Alaska for North America's highest Summit!
These pictures are taken a couple of weeks ago by the talented l.dae during her photography classes. Thank you very much!
#secutec7summits #secutec #jointhefrontrow
#adventure #cyclinglife #rowing #ocean #boat #bike #sports #photography #studio #student #adventuretime #outdoors #cycling #7summits #climbing #theultimateadventure #waves #humanpowered #sea #waves #road #travel #excited #team #usa #oars
While we're spending a lot of time on admin these days in preparation for the Front Row project, here are some dazzling numbers for you
Let us know in the comments if you have any questions!
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Thanks @andre_and_leon for the graphics
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#jointhefrontrow #fromportugaltomiami #whaleboat
#boatbuilding #koendegezelle #jelleveyt
#gijsvandenbogaerde #adventure #whaleboatO28
#rowingboat #ocean #oceanrowing
#rowing #2021 #taubevideo #shift_videoproductions
#andreandleon