Worlds Toughest Row team support

To row 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, every rowing boat, to keep competing in the Atlantic, Pacific or Round Britain fleet, have to meet stringent requirements set out by the worlds toughest row.

They have to be fully rewired every 4 years and electrically maintained to a very high standard.

This is a week long process for the rewire and involves not only the cabling itself, but also the navigation network system too. Even within 4 years and crossing the Atlantic twice, the Rannoch R45 "Jasmine" was still found to have corrosion in a number of cables throughout the boat and a few damaged Raymarine network cables. 

In December 2023, we fully rewired the Rannoch R45 from bow to stern, along  with a complete new navigation network, repaired, upgraded and tested the autopilot system, sent off the drive arms to Raymarine for servicing and reconditioning, along with realigning and remounting the arms with new mountings.

We Replaced all the LED Navigation lights as we had no record of hours used onboard, interior lighting system became a dual LED & filament bulb system, along with upgraded & increased number USB charging points.

The solar panels were tested and all the mppt's were updated to the latest firmware and to prevent any power failures or low battery scenario's, we added a waterproof deck socket that was switchable between either of the 2 lithium batteries and had a removable 130w flexible panel that stowed underneath the bunk cushions to boost charging on flat sunny days or in an emergency if one battery has become very low on the battery monitors.

We did a measured rundown test with each of the Victron lithium batteries, to make sure there is no issues or unexpected shutdowns.

Removed the water maker and refitted after sending away for servicing.

Fitted all new hatch hinges throughout to keep the boat water tight, in rough weather or through a capsize.

After works were all carried out, a written report is made of all the work undertaken and the cable sizes used to make sure it meets the regulations of the world's toughest row.

Throughout the journey of the EBB & FLOW 2024 team, Keef marine continued support all the way through training periods, with fast response repairs, basic training with the navigation equipment and set up of the system, ready to cross the Atlantic in 2024. We worked with the surveyor, who does a final inspection before declaring the boat ready to ship to La Gomera, we fixed any issues found and supplied reports to show work had been completed.