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Royal Navy Valkyries rowing team set off for World’s Toughest Row
11 December 2024
A team of female sailors left the Canary Islands this morning as they look to become the first ever Royal Navy women’s team to row across an ocean.
Known as the Valkyries, the team pushed off into the Atlantic Ocean from La Gomera as they start racing in the World’s Toughest Row.
Over the next 40 days or so, they will face 40ft waves, salt sores, sleep deprivation and sea sickness as they row 3,000 miles to Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua.
As well as the physical demands, the women will be rowing two hours on and two hours off each day, they will also have to deal with the emotional side of being away from their loved ones at Christmas.
The HMS Oardacious – Valkyries crew consists of skipper Lieutenant Commander Izzy Rawlinson (Marine Engineer - Submariner), Petty Officer Aaby Aldridge (Survival Equipment Technician), Lieutenant Commander Nic Hall (Warfare Officer) and Lieutenant Commander Ali Aindow (Mine Clearance Diver Officer).
They have been training hard all year, both in the gym and spending weeks on the water on expeditions in their 28ft long Ocean Rowing Boat named “Captain Jim” in loving memory of Royal Navy Captain Jim Simpson who died in 2020.
The team are completely self-sufficient, their boat is stocked with food for up to 55 days and equipped with solar panels providing power to two batteries which supply all the essential equipment (including the all-important water maker – a mini reverse osmosis plant which makes fresh water from seawater).
We hope to portray ordinary women doing something extraordinary
Speaking earlier this year when the team announced their participation in the race, skipper Izzy said: “We hope to portray ordinary women doing something extraordinary and to showcase that as hard as something could be, tomorrow is a different day.
“If I could make someone’s life slightly better by them looking at me and thinking, if she can do it then I can get definitely out of this, I can definitely make it through to the other side, then that’s good enough for me.”
HMS Oardacious was established in 2018 and has already completed three successful record-breaking Atlantic crossing.
The Valkyries will become the first ever all women’s Royal Navy team to row across any ocean and they will race against the British Army’s first ever All-women’s Ocean rowing team ‘Force Atlantic’ in what promises to be an enthralling inter-services race across the Atlantic.
They are raising money for two charities - the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and the Young Women’s Trust.
You can follow the team and their progress on HMS Oardacious’ social media channels.