Posted: Mar 05, 2009 11:29 am EST
(TheOceans.net/story edited 01.12 am CST Mar 7, 2009) Crossing the Indian ocean means covering a distance about twice that of the Atlantic. Less than a handful of rowers have managed it: should Briton Sarah Outen succeed, she would become the first woman.

Sarah plans to take on the challenge solo and unsupported, rowing independently from Australia to Mauritius, starting mid-March. ExWeb’s Correne Coetzer caught up with her in Australia for an interview.

ExplorersWeb: When did you start rowing and why?

Sarah: Oxford University, 2004. I had always wanted to row - I love the water and being the engine for the boat. My Oxford days were all flat water racing but it was while a student here that I heard about ocean rowing. Oceans and rowing - a perfect combination, and so began the dream.

ExplorersWeb: Why did you decide to do this Indian Ocean row?

Sarah: With so few crossings of the Indian and no attempts by any women yet, the ocean choice seemed obvious once I had decided I wanted to row an ocean. Adventures make life real and exciting - I had known since a youngster that I would live for adventures.

The decision to go solo came when my Dad died very suddenly in 2006 just as I was beginning to plan the trip - it is dedicated to his memory and fundraising for arthritis charities.

Over and above the purity and absolute challenge of a solo expedition like this, the pursuit of records also excites me - first woman, youngest woman to row an ocean and hopefully the fastest soloist across the Southern Indian ocean.

ExplorersWeb: You are quite young, 23. What is you previous experience on the open waters and other adventures?

Sarah: I have canoed, kayaked and sailed since a teenager - a lot of it off the West coast of Scotland which always has exciting seas and weather in store. I was one of Geoff Holt's round GB crew in 2007 and sailed across the North Atlantic last summer as part of a crew too.

I've raced in various kayaking marathons including the 2008 Devizes to Westminster, and ran the London Marathon in 2007. I would like to do the Yukon one day. My ocean rowing preps have taken me off the Devonshire coast and around Gran Canaria in rowing boats.

ExplorersWeb: How long did you organise for this race and what went into this preparation?

Sarah: It's been a long time happening - going from knowing only that I wanted to do row an ocean and that therefore I would do it, to fundraising, building a media presence, building and fitting out a boat, training, putting together the backup team and coordinating all the logistics has been mammoth.

Pretty much every spare minute of the last couple of years has gone into it - when you have a dream you have to make it happen. It's all or nothing.

ExplorersWeb: How did you physically prepare for the race?

Sarah: The biggest challenge is psychological I think - the body will follow through anything if you want it bad enough. So I needed to know I had taken my body to places it didn't want to go - ultra marathons and endurance events.

I worked closely with a sports psychotherapist. Lots of cross training was important not just for tedium's sake but also for preparing my body for the wear and tear it will endure at sea - ocean rowing is not pretty and technical like river rowing!

A physiotherapist helped with core stability and my weights and conditioning programmes reflected this too. Two sessions a day was the ideal though sometimes logistics and media had to take the priority.

ExplorersWeb: How did you prepare yourself psychologically for the row and many days on the open ocean?

Sarah: (Sort of answered above in part...) I have spent a lot of time training by myself and thinking about this extremely important aspect - perhaps the most important. Having survived the three years since my father died unexpectedly, I know I can survive anything I want to - optimism that tomorrow will be a good day and an acceptance of external factors such as bad weather are key.

Gleaning information from other solo adventurers and also working with a sports psychotherapist have also been useful. Ultimately, you just have to believe and be strong. I can't wait for the challenge now - I am ready for it.

ExplorersWeb: What technical preparations were involved?

Sarah: The expedition relies on technology for communication, navigations and safety - there is lots of clever IT on board designed to keep me safe and in touch with my team.

The boat build was probably the most exacting technical aspect - it was six months of dedicated work by Global Boatworks and their team to produce a beautiful, sleek, solid boat.

ExplorersWeb: What is your biggest fear?

Sarah: I'm not scared at the moment - though I am sure there will be times at sea when the fear is very real. My stomach jumps sometimes when I think of being completely alone out there - just me and my little boat, but I'm looking forward to that.

ExplorersWeb: What are you looking forward to?

Sarah: Living the dream - being at one with myself, the boat and the sea. I can't wait for the contrasts too - the calm silky seas to the raging storms, racing down the waves to the stillness of a flat day, the starry black of Southern hemisphere nights.

Part 2, final: safety on board, navigation, ocean traffic, food, the boat and more.

Sarah Outen was born on 26th May 1985 and is living in the UK. She taught for a year after university and is going to write a book on her return from the Indian Ocean row. She said, “Teaching calls for the future I think.” Sarah is very interested in nature conservation and marine biology; enjoy literature and adventures, namely water sports.

Currently she is reading ‘The Worst Journey in the World’ by Apsely Cherry-Garrard. Her iPod list for the boat stretches from Winnie the Pooh, to War and Peace through Jane Austen and various adventure books - and on the music front everything from Mozart's 5th to Queen, The Rolling Stones, the Dixie Chicks, Fleet Foxes and Sigur Ros – “it's all quite eclectic”, she added.

The Indian Ocean has been rowed solo/unsupported only twice, first in 1971 by Anders Svedlund. It took the Swedish rower 64 days to complete the journey aboard Roslagena. In 2003 Brit Simon Chalk completed the solo/unsupported row in 107 days. In 2007 John Williams, continued alone after his team-mate Glenn Edwards was picked up part way through. No woman has ever attempted to cross the Indian Ocean.

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