Long distance rower Duncan Roy speaks of toughest ever challenge

LONG-DISTANCE rowing challenges would usually be measured in days and weeks, but that was not the case for the most recent expedition tackled by Duncan Roy and his crewmates, who took two years, two months, four days, 19 hours and 14 minutes to circumnavigate Britain.

Why so long? Well, there was a gap of about 23 months between two sections of the route thanks to a combination of Mother Nature and family commitments.

Duncan, from Ingleby Arncliffe, near Northallerton, has been making waves as an ocean rower for years now with several victories and records to his name. In 2021, he was one of the four-strong Team Latitude 35 who smashed the world record for the fastest time to row 2,400 nautical miles, completing the Mid-Pacific route from San Francisco to Hawaii in 30 days, seven hours and 30 minutes. In 2020 he earned the British record in a 100km row as a mixed heavyweight pair and in 2018 he set a world record for the leg of his first Atlantic Row from Cape Verde to French Guiana.

However it is the row around Britain that he cites as his toughest ever challenge. The idea came about in 2020, when he was preparing to row the Pacific with an American team, but Covid struck, and he couldn't get out to San Francisco. Determined not to have done all the training for nothing, a round-Britain route starting and finishing at Ramsgate, Kent, was plotted alongside teammate Gus Barton.

Duncan Roy crossing the finishing line on the final stretch of the round Britain row

"Everyone came together to support us, it was a real collaboration of the community of ocean rowing," says Duncan.

The pair set off from Ramsgate on June 14, 2020, and "ultimately got humbled by Mother Nature". "We totally underestimated it, but it was amazing and I wouldn't change it," he says.

"We had 45 days to do it, and after 44 days of the hardest rowing we had ever done we were 300 miles short of the finish."

They had to call off the challenge at Amble in Northumberland as Gus was due to be best man at his brother's wedding. "At the time it was really hard to take but we learned so much – about ourselves, about the sport, and about Mother Nature," says Duncan.

"We had an amazing adventure but it was the first time in my life I hadn't finished something. This year I wanted to put it to bed."

So he got back out on the water this summer, picking up the challenge back at Amble, and breaking up the last stretch into legs with guest rowers Will Quarmby, Peter Rose, Matt Wilkinson, Jack Jarvis and Andy Hodgson. The team even managed to fit in an impromptu run up the Thames as far as Tower Bridge.

Duncan Roy crossing the finishing line on the final stretch of the round Britain row

The total distance was 1,704 nautical miles, covering a row time of 59 days, nine hours and six minutes. The first 82 per cent was 44 days, 18 hours and two minutes (1,272 nautical miles) and the second part, dubbed the "last 18" took 14 days, 15 hours, and 14 minutes from August 4 to 19 (432 nautical miles).

The highlights – apart from reaching the finishing line back at Ramsgate? "Seeing the Yorkshire coast from the water was amazing," says Duncan. "And off Hartlepool we saw two minke whales. It was about really enjoying the rest of that journey. I was really grateful to have that time and be there doing it."

Duncan and Gus didn't touch dry land on the first stretch, but having already had a long pause, the second part allowed Duncan and his crewmates to stop off and engage with communities along the way about their challenge. The first leg raised £15,000 for Sport In Mind and NHS Charities Together, while the second section raised almost £5,000 for the RNLI.

As for the lessons learned, Duncan says: "You can't fight Mother Nature – she is formidable. You see her at her absolute best, and at her most fierce."

He adds: "It sharpened my skills as an ocean rower. Rowing round Britain gets such little kudos, but it is really technical. Rowing an ocean gets kudos because it is very easy for people to quantify. This was 1,704 nautical miles and every mile of that is technical and there are hazards, whereas there's nothing to hit out on the ocean."

Duncan found the sport of ocean rowing by accident, having been medically discharged from the Army due to injury, and was hooked by the camaraderie and the opportunity to test himself. "It's one of the hardest sports out there – a test of technical, mental and physical skills," he says. "A lot of my friends are in the sport of ocean rowing now. There's a real sense of belonging in this community, anyone who wants to do it has to be motivated, driven and determined. I was surrounded by those people in the military."

After four ocean expeditions in the last five years, Duncan is now concentrating on coaching, a career that takes him all over the world. "The sport is growing and expanding, it's a really exciting time to be involved," he says. "The coaching is going from strength to strength."

Reflecting on the round Britain challenge, he says: "It’s been a huge physical, mental, emotional and massively spiritual journey. I will never forget the feeling of rowing across the finish line into Ramsgate – the sense of purpose, pride, achievement, closure, relief, joy, fulfilment, brotherhood, community, happiness and a whole lot more will be something that stays with me for the rest of my life."