Having plenty of experience in facing uncertainty in the U.K. pension market himself, Francis Moore decided to back a team of four men facing a different set of enormous challenges.
Mr. Moore is managing director of the European Pensions Management Ltd., a personal pension provider based near Salisbury, England, with £450 million ($885 million) in assets. EPM is sponsoring four men from the Isles of Scilly (pronounced “silly”) who set off June 1 to become the first team to make an unassisted, trans-Atlantic crossing from New York to the Scilly Isles, located off the southwest coast of England.
The foursome will also attempt to break the time record for an assisted trip set in 1896 when Norwegian George Harbo and American Frank Samuelsen made the same trip in 55 days and 13 hours. During that trip, the two were assisted by supplies from passing ships.
“One empathizes with the challenges they're facing; it is one of the most dangerous journeys in the world,” Mr. Moore said. “There's a 50% failure rate.”
Team members, known as the Scilly Boys, are Chris Jenkins, Tim Garratt, Joby Newton and Wayne Davey. They're rowing in a 29-foot boat, loaded with 1,500 freeze-dried meals, a desalinater and other supplies, that weighed about 2 tons when it left from the Statue of Liberty. The gruelling journey stretches 2,835 nautical miles to the Bishop Rock Lighthouse in the Scilly Isles; each member is scheduled to alternate rowing on a two-hour basis.
They're also raising money for four charities. Information about donations to the charities is at http://www.row4home.com. — Thao Hua
