Female team of Royal Navy sailors joined by dolphins on World's Toughest Row
The all-women's Royal Navy ocean rowing team – taking on the World's Toughest Row – were greeted with some playful dolphins, a welcome surprise for the team battling the intense conditions of their Atlantic row.
HMS Oardacious Valkyries, who are currently making their way from the Canary Islands to Antigua, shared some footage of their brilliant encounter with the pod and their delight at seeing some wildlife.
"Remember when the team were on the radio and said they hadn't seen too much in the way of wildlife? Things have changed!" they said on X.
Oardacious Valkyries added: "This encounter absolutely lifted the team's spirits more than you can imagine – it lifted them for the rest of the day and will be something they will talk about for the rest of their lives."
The crew are making history as the first serving military female team to attempt to row the Atlantic and, in their latest update, spoke about how a "rough night" meant they had to deploy their para-anchor.
This is an underwater parachute attached to the nose of the boat by a long 70-metre line. They are using it to reduce any distance lost with the challenging winds, as well as to keep the boat stable.
They have now been at sea for more than a month and have rowed 1,712 nautical miles with 1,040 to go.
HMS Oardacious Valkyries are one of four military teams racing in the World's Toughest Row, which pushed off from La Gomera in the Canary Islands at the beginning of December to row 3,000 miles to Nelson's Dockyard, Antigua, roughly 40 days later.
The other military teams involved are TEAM V3NTURE, Force Atlantic, and the Oarsome Army Educators, who were among the 38 teams comprised of 110 rowers from 19 nations taking on the journey that is expected to take approximately six weeks to complete.
TEAM V3NTURE
The trio of British Army soldiers, who met at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2019 and became firm friends, set their goals sky high to become the first military trio to successfully row across any ocean.
In their latest update, there was some exciting "HUGE" news for the team,
They have been doing very well in the trio class and have been maintaining second for most of the race. Team V3NTURE said on Instagram: "After an IMMENSE amount of work, and some clever weather routing decisions, the team have TAKEN THE LEAD!!"
After going ahead of the BUOYS team, on Day 33, the trio of British Army soldiers covered 2,149 Nm with 672 to go.
Force Atlantic
Force Atlantic, who have already made history by becoming the British Army's first all-female crew to embark on the 3,000-mile journey, were able to send an update on Christmas Day showing they were also enjoying some calmer waters.
The team, like all the others, have been battling through challenging conditions, and one member decided to show the not-so-"delightful" images of what the rowers put their bodies through.
In a post on Instagram, they said: "Our amazing rowers have been hard at work and have now developed some pretty good going calluses."
Force Atlantic have rowed 1,758 Nm and have 1,009 Nm to go.
Oarsome Army Educators
This team consists of four officers from the Educational and Training Services (ETS) branch of the British Army who came together to embrace the "unique opportunity" of the World's Toughest Row across the Atlantic.
They recently celebrated getting over the one-month mark of the race, however, they have been frustrated by slow winds.
Oarsome Army Educators said on Instagram: "However, they are now well below the 1,000 Nm left to row and their due date is currently 28 Jan, though the team are expecting some better weather towards the end of the race to see them finishing closer to the 26 Jan."
They added: "Last great bit of news was that they had some big whales with them who stuck around for a while. Hopefully, there's some footage!"
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