Current Projects

Indian Ocean Race - Big Boys Progress
September 2008

I met up with Ben and Mark this week; they came to see me after having rowed through most of the night to the Isle of Wight and back. They looked surprisingly well, so in spite of their tiredness we pressed on.

There’s a lot to do between now and the start of the race in April. There are 4 areas to work on; boat supplies, sourcing, packaging and transportation, Ben and Marks health and fitness, and sponsorship. 

Boat supplies; I could see the enormity of it all register on the boys faces when we started talking about how much food they would need. It isn’t possible to provide the amount of energy that they require for less than 1 Kg each a day, and that’s really pushing it. Race rules dictate that they must take 100 days worth of food - that’s over 200Kg of food!! On top of this they must (race rules again) carry 150 litres of emergency fresh water - that’s a whopping 350Kg (excluding the weight of equipment, personal effects and the two of them) that they will have to row across the Indian Ocean. Well that’ll be one incentive to eat!

I have started to work out their daily requirements for the trip. They are aiming to row 12 for hours a day, with 12 hours off. However even in the 12 hours that they aren’t rowing their bodies will be constantly counterbalancing the motion of the sea and dealing with stresses of the hostile environment they are in. I estimate that they will need an incredible 7,500 kcal/day!

Sourcing/Packaging/Transportation: The race starts from Geraldtown, Western Australia. It’s going to be a challenge to find the right foods in Australia, ensure they are packaged safely, in the right daily quantities, and also calculate how best to stow them onboard; all from my office in West Sussex. Ummm – work in progress.

Ben and Marks Health and Fitness: The distance of the race and the enormity of the loads they will be manoeuvring, waves, winds and other factors as well it really highlights the need for Ben and Mark to be very fit, very strong, very lean and very healthy. Did I over do the ‘very’? I don’t think so.

On top of their training, the organisation and fundraising of the trip is becoming hugely demanding. Unsurprisingly, there are times when both boys are feeling tired and slightly overwhelmed by the task in hand. Nutritionally, I will work with them on three levels 1) to ensure that they are eating the right nutrition around training to ensure they make maximum gains in strength and body composition while remaining free from injury 2) To ensure their daily nutrition is good enough to support their training, daily workloads and the background stress of organising the trip itself to avoid illness and exhaustion 3) To reset their metabolisms. Because Ben and Mark eat and drink plenty in their current lifestyles, their bodies are geared to expect plenty and their metabolisms are ‘wasteful’. Metabolically they are geared to habitually excrete anything usually eaten in excess. However, dietary change, huge physical demands, psychological stress and hormonal changes, typical in a challenge such as, can result in changes to their daily requirements and also how they metabolise foods. Food and nutrients will be precious while at sea and before the boys set off their metabolisms need to be reset; ‘lean’, not ‘wasteful’.

Sponsorship: The boys need foods, drinks and supplements for their trip. Nothing is fresh, everything is carefully packaged and protected from spoilage in all its possible forms. If the boys are going to be able to get the nutritional supplies they need they will need funds. We will be running a series of media releases to help raise funds for nutrition. If you would like to make a donation to the boys nutrition please contacts us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or if you would support Ben and Marks charities visit; www.bigboysrow.com