SOLO rower Simon Chalk has marked the halfway point of his epic Indian Ocean odyssey by launching a protest at two competitors who, he claims, are trying to steal his record by cheating.
Although he is guaranteed to be the first Briton to maker the voyage – as long as he completes it – the Newton Abbot property developer fears that a Portsmouth crew have taken unfair advantage.
Rob Abernethy and Mike Noel-Smith left Carnarvan in Western Australia on Easter Saturday. But because Mr Chalk understands they were towed for the first 60km of their effort he has filed his protest.
'Under the guidelines of the Ocean Rowing Society, an ocean rowing boat should only be towed if a specific danger exists,' he says in a statement from his boat True Spirit.
'From our team's research of Carnarvan no such danger exists when using this port as a starting point.
'We as ocean rowers have a duty to protect records and give respect to those rowers who have rowed oceans before us. This is a sport rich in history and will only continue in its present form if clear benchmarks are conformed with.'
Mr Chalk said: 'It has never been acceptable to take a long tow from a starting point. If this double-handed attempt is successful, the new time will be used as a guide to other double-handed attempts across the Indian Ocean.
'Will it, therefore, be necessary for all future double-handed rowers to effectively cheat by leaving 60km offshore, or perhaps more?'
Mr Chalk said that he took 'a minimal tow' to clear the danger of a reef approximately one mile off shore.
'Then I rowed through incredibly testing conditions to leave the shoreline of Australia. It took over two days to clear the distance this crew are being towed.'
Mr Chalk's official protest is aimed at opening up the subject for debate and clarification among ocean rowers.
'As Carnarvan is already 120 nautical miles shorter in distance than my record attempt, and in view of this latest short cutting, I personally do not recognise their record attempt.'
He has been rowing for more than 50 days and is hoping to reach Reunion Island off Madagascar, on day 94 or 95 – a much longer trip than he originally anticipated.
'The way I deal with that psychologically is to break it up into little portions but I'm actually really, really enjoying being here,' Mr Chalk has confided to his online diary. 'The solo thing has ended up suiting me down to the ground.'
He admitted he should not have survived last year's ordeal when he and fellow oarsman Bill Greaves capsized in shark-infested waters, but getting through the experience left him an awful lot stronger.
'You don't know until you're confronted with a life-threatening situation whether you're going to be able to deal with it. But if you come through that experience you feel more relaxed,
more self-sufficient, more at peace with yourself.'