ROW
Back in 2007, whilst in Resolute Bay preparing for one of his Polar races, Oyster yachting enthusiast, Jock Wishart, was spotted working out on a rowing ergo in the snow during a rare moment of downtime. For such an accomplished veteran oarsman this shouldn’t have come as any great surprise, but for the fact it was -20 degrees centigrade and he was deep in the Canadian Arctic. On seeing Jock sweating it out, his good friend, and fellow Polar Race organiser, Chris Walker remarked: “Don’t tell me… what are you going to do next, row to the North Pole?” What if, Jock thought, what if that was actually possible? And so the seed had been sown…
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What then followed were four long, at times torturous years of planning to put together one of the most ambitious expeditions ever attempted, to row to a recognised polar position. For many the concept represented little more than complete madness – impossible to comprehend let alone attempt – but for Jock this was half the appeal. Never one to take the easy route this was without question to be his single biggest challenge to date. He had dedicated his life to adventure and exploration, along the way recording a number of remarkable achievements and world firsts. The ‘North’ had played a big part in this and was a place very close to his heart. As the years had passed, Jock had become increasingly aware of the dramatic changes taking place to this part of the world, none more so than the rapidly diminishing ice coverage. Drawing inspiration from the impact these changes were having on the region, Jock was determined to prove that the ‘impossible’ might in fact be possible. The goal was to row from Resolute Bay (Nunavut, Canada) to the 1996 Magnetic North Pole, a position he and fellow explorer,
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David Hempleman-Adams, had certified for the Canadian Government all those years ago, and which today remains one of the most recognised end points for expeditions in the north. With a blank piece of paper Jock then set about plotting what was to be a very complex expedition – from designing the ‘ice boat’ to sorting the fit out, transportation logistics, sponsorship and route planning the list was endless. For months on end he poured over the historical data, ice forecasts and every piece of Arctic research he could lay his hands on and as the picture began to unfold so did his dream begin to take shape. An expedition of this magnitude comes with a colossal financial burden and one of Jock’s greatest challenges was to find sponsors to help get the project off the ground. Without sponsors there would be no expedition and given the state of the world economy it was, at best, optimistic. To kick-start the campaign a headline sponsor needed to be found and in Old Pulteney Jock stumbled across a willing partner who shared his vision, energy and most importantly excitement for the project – and so it was that The Old Pulteney Row To The Pole was born.
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