Scottish catering business executive Robbie Laidlaw is set to row 3000-miles across the Atlantic to raise funds for a hospitality charity.
Robbie (34), from Gullane, East Lothian, now lives in London, working for contract catering business Genuine Dining, and he’ll be rowing alongide his boss, managing director Chris Mitchell (41), when they set off sail from La Gomera, off Tenerife, on 14th December – from the same port where Christopher Columbus originally set sail for the New World.
Robbie and Chris hope to complete the 3000-mile journey to Antigua in their boat, Maria, in between 40 and 50 days. So far, the duo has raised £150,000 for Hospitality Action, a charity for the hospitality sector, which was particularly busy during the pandemic, with many people requiring financial and mental health support.
Chris and Robbie aim to raise another £100,000 to reach their target of £250,000. The scale of their epic voyage is underlined by the fact that more people have climbed Everest than have rowed the Atlantic.
They will each row in two-hour stints, and sleep, eat and clean for two hours, 24 hours every day. In total, they will each have to make some one million strokes to complete the journey.
Their 7.5 metre boat can only carry basic medical, navigation, communications and survival equipment alongside enough food to sustain them for up to two months. They will convert seawater into drinking water and use buckets as toilets.
“The hospitality industry is built upon a strong community spirit, and this spirit was damaged during the fallout of the pandemic with waves of redundancies sweeping the sector during 2019 and 2020,” said Chris.
“Hospitality Action supports people facing mental health challenges, which we understand the importance of. It’s why we want to support them on our Atlantic campaign,” he said.
“We have named our rowing campaign The Spirit of Hospitality. Built upon generosity, cheerfulness and fun, our campaign brings together an industry that has suffered greatly, to achieve one important goal – to support Hospitality Action and the vital work they do,” he added.
Their row is being supported by some of the best chefs in the UK, who have sponsored them with the creation of meals and snacks that will sustain them throughout the trip, and by clients and suppliers donating charitable funding.
If you would like to support Robbie and Chris they have a Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/spiritofhospitality
You can also follow them on their journey on Facebook and Instagram.
