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2,100 miles from St John's, Newfoundland, to Falmouth,
England.
The 35-day record for the east-west
crossing, from the Canary Islands to Martinique in the
West Indies, was set by 11 Frenchmen in 1992.
The fastest west-east crossing,
55 days, was made in 1987 by Briton Tom McClean, rowing
from St John's to the Bishop Rock lighthouse. This equalled
the record set by Harboe and Samuelsen, who rowed from
New York to Bishop Rock lighthouse in 1896.
Prevailing winds and tides,
which rotate clockwise over the entire North Atlantic,
dictate that a yacht or a rowing boat hoping to cross
from east to west must do so in the south. If the crossing
is to be made from the west to the east, then in the
north. Conditions in the north are much tougher than
those in the south, and this explains why the records
for the two crossings are so different. More>>
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