American woman, 22, becomes youngest person to row across the Atlantic
By Paul Thomson
Katie Spotz has become the youngest person to row across the Atlantic at the age of 22
A 22-year-old woman has become the youngest person to row across the Atlantic.
Katie Spotz completed the 2,817 mile journey in 70 days.
She was greeted by her father and brother after reaching Georgetown,Guyana, South America having weathered storms, shark infested seas and even an on board fire.
Her effort eclipsed the previous record for the youngest solo ocean rower which was set by 23-year-old Briton Oliver Hicks.
He rowed from New Jersey on America's east coat to England in 2005.
Spotz had set off in her 19ft British built yellow rowing boat from Dakar, Senegal, on January 3rd.
She was strapped into the boat to stop her from being tossed out during stormy weather that she encountered on the route.
A US Coast Guard vessel shadowed her as she approached south America to prevent her from being attacked by pirates.
Amazingly, Spotz, from Cleveland, had little boating experience before setting off.
Her only practice was a 40-mile row on Lake Erie in which she ended up running aground.
Spotz,who took two years to raise the money for the £60,000 cost of the adventure, survived on freeze dried food and energy bars.
A day before reaching Guyana on Sunday her global tracking system caught fire and she had to use a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze.
After setting foot on land for the first time in two months Spotz said her biggest worry was the boat capsizing as she was battered by 20ft waves.
Spotz was shadowed by a US Coast Guard vessel as she approached south America to prevent her from being attacked by pirates
'The hardest part was just the solo part,' Spotz said, saying she struggled with boredom and had trouble sleeping inside the cramped, 19-foot (6-meter) row boat.
She rowed to raise money and awareness for the Blue Planet Run Foundation, a non-profit organisation whose goal is to bring clean drinking water to the estimated 1 billion people worldwide who lack it.
'The records are just a bonus for Katie. Rowing the Atlantic and raising funds for clean water are the things she really cares about,' said her coach Sam Williams.
Spotz rowed for as many as 10 hours a day with breaks for naps, navigation and boat maintenance.
At night, she would drift aboard the specially designed ocean row boat, which had equipment including solar panels for power, a satellite phone and a laptop computer.
She had little fresh food aside from sprouts grown aboard the boat.
'I would cook three dehydrated meals a day on a little stove,' she said as she devoured a melon at the dock in Georgetown.
'At night I would update my Facebook and e-mails. There is not much else to do on a row boat.'
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