Transatlantic Crossing History
Frank Samuelsen and George Harbo crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1896, rowing from Battery Park, Manhattan to Le Havre, France. They crossed the Atlantic Ocean as part of what is known as Ocean Rowing, which is the sport of rowing across oceans. Since then, rowing has developed into a competitive sport (Read More).
The sport of rowing really took off during in 1994 when a competition began to take place between the Canary Islands and the Caribbean. Teams usually consist of two to four members. In 2006 the rowing competition took to a new level when a new race route emerged from New Jersey to Falmouth, United Kingdom. These both occur annually (Read More).
Tori Murden McClure was the first woman to make a solo transatlantic journey. McClure was successful with this journey after the second attempt, which took her 81 days to complete (Read More).
Benoit Lecomte was the first man to swim across the North Atlantic Ocean, as a means of raising money for cancer. During his transatlantic journey, Lecomte was accompanied by a support vessel where he ate and slept during the journey. Lecomte left from Massachusetts and set foot on land in France. His journey lasted 78 days and was completed in 1998 (Read More 1 2).
Other Interesting Facts about Transatlantic Journeys:
- In 1969, Briton John Fairfax became the first person to row across the Atlantic single-handed.
- In 1952, Frenchman Alain Bombard made the first crossing in a rubber dingy
- In 1952 Ann Davidson was the first women to sail the Atlantic Ocean
- In 1980 Gerard d'Aboville was the first man to sail across the southern Atlantic Ocean
- In 1988, another Frenchman, Remy Bricka, took 64 days to "ski" across the Atlantic on polyester floats.
- Guy Delage also holds the record for the first transatlantic crossing in a microlight, in 1991.
- In August, three North American "artists" accompanied by their three dogs successfully sailed across the Atlantic in a 50ft boat constructed entirely from junk.
- On Tuesday, British windsurfer Jason Gilbert completed a 2,200-mile, three-man journey from Newfoundland to Dorset. "The first thing I want to do now is go for a pint," he said.
