After 39 days, four hours and 28 minutes, pain and exhaustion turned to elation for four rowers who reached Hawaii and joined an elite group of endurance athletes to cross the Pacific Ocean.
The Brothers ’n Oars Pacific 2023 team, a group of friends from the UK, who are based in Dubai for their training, landed in Hanalei Bay, Kauai on Friday, July 21 after leaving Monterey, California on June 12.
After setting off in unusually cool temperatures of just 8°C, the team that included Paris Norriss – presenter of the adventure TV series Guy In Dubai – landed in Hawaii in scorching 40°C heat in the wake of Tropical Storm Calvin.
It was the first tropical cyclone to land in Hawaii this year, and the timing could not have been worse for Norriss and teammates Barney Lewis, and Oliver and Harry Amos who had to contend with difficult conditions just four days out from the finish line.
The storm brought with it 13cm of rain in just a few hours, as well as large waves and 200kph winds.
“The Pacific did everything it could to make it difficult for us, throwing storms, bitter cold and rogue waves at us,” Mr Norriss said in a social media post.
“Our undamaged and resolute teamwork was rooted in our long friendships with each other.
“We started as good friends. We ended as four brothers.
“As adults now with wives and children our responsibility to get home safely meant any bravado or ego among us was smashed to zero on day one when the seriousness of the situation became very real.
“The realisation that we needed each other and that our lives depended on each other overrode everything and we instantly switched into an incredibly supportive team.”
Despite the challenges they faced, the Brothers 'n Oar team recorded one of the fastest days of all the boats that entered the event, covering 91 nautical miles – around 168km – in just 24 hours.
The average time for crossing in a rowing boat is 62 days.
Elite group
On completing their 4,500km challenge, the four men became part of a small group of people to have finished the crossing by rowing boat.
Until this year, just 82 people in 33 boats had rowed from mainland USA to the Hawaiian Islands, considerably fewer than the number of people to have entered space or climbed Mount Everest.
The team rowed in 12-hour shifts during the crossing that saw each rower consume around 6,5000 calories a day in specially prepared micro meals, energy bars and power gels.
On Friday, the team were welcomed home by family and friends, as well as other teams that completed the crossing.
Mr Norriss said his team of rowers – who trained for three years in preparation – got on well during their 39 days at sea, with only the occasional minor disagreement.
“We were each thinking about our crewman’s next move and getting something ready for them,” he said.
“We are proud to say we crossed the Pacific Ocean in a rowing boat, something only 82 people in history had done before we started.
“We are prouder to call ourselves friends.
“It’s been an incredible experience and a story we look forward to telling.”
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
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Born September 27, 1976
Position Attacking midifelder
Clubs played for (1) - Roma
Total seasons 24
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Last season 2016/17
Appearances 786
Goals 307
Titles (5) - Serie A 1; Italian Cup 2; Italian Supercup 2
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- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
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