Ocean5 crew fundraising for research into brain tumours
Five epic adventurers aim to cross the Pacific Ocean to raise vital funds to help people affected by brain tumours. Their challenge will be undertaken in an open rowing boat and they’ll be unsupported.
The Ocean5 crew is training in Lymington, Hampshire. It consists of Kevin Gaskell, Matt Gaskell (his son), Tom Higham, Patrick Deacon and Stephen Greenan.
They’ll be competing against teams from across the globe when they attempt to break the world record for the fastest crossing by racing the 2,800 nautical mile route from Monterey in California to Hanalei Kauai in Hawaii in 45 days. The event starts on 8th June. The boat will be shipped to the US on 20 March.
Kevin, 66, who was the youngest MD of Porsche, Lamborghini and BMW, will also set a new world record as the oldest person to row across the Pacific Ocean.
Living off freeze-dried rations and high protein snacks, the crew will need to consume around 6000 calories and 10 litres of water each per day.
Other challenges include generating their own water and electricity supply from solar panels while coping with sleep deprivation, sea sickness, salt sores, 30-foot waves, isolation, physical exhaustion and facing the unrelenting forces of mother nature at her fiercest.
‘Between us we have trekked to the North and South Poles, climbed the world’s highest mountains, sailed the seven seas, carried the Olympic torch, represented our countries as athletes, set world records for the fastest row across the Atlantic and the
‘But this will test our resilience to the limit; the boat will not stop and we’ll each be rowing for two hours on, two hours off for 45 days.’
Aim to raise more than £50,000 for The Lewis Moody Foundation
The challenge was sparked by Kevin’s friendship with former England rugby captain Lewis Moody, MBE.
The crew of Ocean5 aim to raise more than £50,000 for The Lewis Moody Foundation which he set up in 2015 to tackle brain tumours.
‘Please get behind this bunch of lunatics who are doing an incredibly brave and difficult challenge all in support of a really worthy cause,’ said Lewis in a video message supporting the crew.
‘I cannot imagine anything worse than being in a tiny plastic boat in the middle of the Pacific, with no support and no one around you…’
‘But this wonderful group of human beings is doing it and they’re doing it in support of our Foundation, supporting young families living with brain tumours in the process.’
The Crew are no strangers to pushing themselves to the absolute limits of endurance. Skipper Tom Higham, 37, from Bristol, rowed across the Atlantic in 2021.
He’s swum from Europe to Asia across the Hellespont, driven a Fiat Panda from London to Mongolia and raced 1000km across the Atlas Mountains on a mini–Honda Monkey Bike.
He enjoys endurance adventures and placed in the top 100 in the Marathon des Sables.
‘Catching Giants’
Business leader Kevin Gaskell, 66, from Newbury, is a company chair and professional speaker whose book ‘Catching Giants’ was nominated for Business Book of the Year in 2023.
He’s an experienced expedition leader who has walked to both Poles, climbed some of the world’s highest mountains and was a member of the five-man crew which set the world record for rowing the Atlantic in 2019.
The team medic is Kevin’s son Matt Gaskell, 33, from Southampton. Matt has taken part in expeditions since he was 17 including walking to both Poles and being part of the Atlantic rowing crew in 2019.
Matt has degrees in medicine and conservation biology. An Olympic torchbearer, he enjoys competing in ultras and triathlons.
Record-breaking rower Patrick Deacon, 40, from Hinkley in Leicestershire, became a martial arts champion at 16 and has represented England internationally.
He spent a year living in the remote Amazon jungle, drove a 35-year-old Reliant Robin from the UK to Mongolia, cycled across Europe, completed several first ascent rock climbing routes in Greenland and has traversed the deserts of Oman.
He also holds a world record for the fastest mixed crew row around Great Britain in 2024.
Stephen Greenan, 40, from Dublin, has toured across America by cycle, hiked the Annapurna Circuit, skied in Europe, Canada, and Japan, and surfed in Sri Lanka, Bali, and California.
With a background in health and fitness, he recently toured with Cirque du Soleil as their performance medicine therapist.
They will be rowing The Lady Jane II which is just over 9.5 metres in length and is made out of carbon fibre. It has three rowing positions and two small cabins for shelter.
The team will be using solar panels to power the vessel’s navigation and communication systems along with water desalination.
The boat weighs 1500kg when fully laden and crewed. The team will be carrying 500kg of freeze-dried food which is expected to be enough to sustain them for 55 days.
