Welcome to the LCRC London2Paris Race Blog

2008 is the 10th Anniversary of the Langstone Cutters Rowing Club (LCRC) and in 2007 it was suggested that, as well as the ‘Round the Island’ event, we participate in the FIRST ever London to Paris rowing race. A number of members expressed interest and we have now entered an LCRC team to compete in this unique race.

While rowing from London to Paris in a Thames Waterman Cutter boat has been done four times before - with a record time of 90 hours - this is the first time a RACE has been run. Polar Adventures Limited and the crews will be working together to make it a success. The rowing starts in London on May 2nd 2008. It will be raced over a number of legs. Leg 1: Starting at Westminster Bridge, London will see the teams racing down the Thames, round Kent to Dover. Leg 2: From Dover to Le Havre which will include the Channel crossing under strict supervision as it is the busiest waterway in the world. Leg 3: Leaving Le Havre through the tidal section to Amfrevilles. The final legs will be a series of sprints, lock to lock; on handicap (i.e. Slowest boat gets a head start, faster boats in pursuit). The finish is in Paris beside the Eiffel Tower very early on the morning of May 8th (if all goes to plan). More information about the race and the organisers will be found on the London2Paris Rowing web site

This will be a significant opportunity for attracting local and national interest – on the web, in newspapers, radio and television so we decided to start the Langstone Lifesavers Fund: The L2P team has set a target of raising £50,000 (€65,000) for charities with a common theme – saving lives. Our first charities, which we hopefully won’t need on our trip, are the RNLI and the Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer; both charitable funds that save lives at sea. Our nominated Land-based lifesaving charities included are the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK. If you would like to sponsor our efforts then click on the links above and give generously.

So now you know the objectives and the detail. This race begins on Friday 2nd May from Westminster Bridge in London starting at 11am! This blog will be used DURING the race to keep friends and families updated with our progress. There will not be pictures during the race but I will try to give you the updated information as and when time and conditions allow.