Viking Row From Svalbard To Siglufjörður

The Icelandic rower Fiann Paul, and another eight of the world’s fastest rowers, are currently rowing from Svalbard to Iceland on a 2000km record breaking voyage.

The Polar Crew left Tromso, Norway, in early July and are to arrive in Siglufjörður in September. The team rows for 12 hours a day, sharing 90-minute shifts between them. Upon arrival, the team will be the first to row across the Arctic Sea from south to north on an open boat.

Already the crew has set several world records on their journey, including traveling the farthest north on a rowboat: 78° North.

“There are very few titles of ‘world’s first’ still available on this planet, and we have gotten one of the remaining ones,” Paul told CBC News. “It’s a huge accomplishment for all of us”. Fiann Paul, who is also an artist and photographer, was born in Poland and moved to Iceland over 10 years ago.

The crew consists of Fiann Paul, Tathagata Roy from India; Alex Gregory, Sam Nye, Danny Longman and Jeff Willis from Great Britain; Carlo Facchino and Tyler Carnevale from the U.S.A and Rot Wigum from Norway.

The rowers are alone on their vessel with no rescue boat following them. In case you’re worried about the safety of these national treasures and think you might need to jump to their rescue, you can track their journey online and check their updates on their Facebook Page.