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The connection between Rossiter Yachts and Ocean Rowing was initially a family one. Charlie Rossiter’s cousin Sara Mason had a son with ambitions to compete in the 2001 Atlantic Challenge race. Sara wanted her son’s boat built ‘properly’, which is how we came to build ‘Bright Spark’ for Will Mason (stroke of Cambridge in the 1993 Boat Race) and Tim Thurnham. We also built a second boat for the same race for a friend of Will’s. Unfortunately he could not get the time off to take part, so he leased the boat to the Veals – the boat was named ‘Troika Transatlantic’ and Debra (now Searle) rowed her way to fame! For the same race we did a considerable amount of fitting out on Norman Butler’s ‘Spirit of Swindon’. |
| When we built ‘Bright Spark’ we discussed with Will and Tim whether we should sheath the boat. We jointly concluded that she only had to cross the Atlantic once and epoxy sealing would suffice (and save a little weight). We are delighted to see her still going strong and could confirm that she was still in very good shape when we were asked to survey her in the Spring of 2007. Of course we are also proud that she held the British record for the Atlantic for a number of years. |  |
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The next project was extreme by any stretch of the imagination! The challenge was to design and build a boat capable of a solo row around Antarctica, beginning and ending in the Falklands. The boat was built with a sandwich hull of Blue Gee Epoxy-A and glass with Kevlar included in the outer skin for toughness. The history of this ill-fated attempt can be found elsewhere. For us as builders the boat proved itself as far as circumstances permitted. |
| It survived a number of capsizes, ‘wrecking’ at Cow Bay on the Falklands and even the Navy’s attempts to sink it with 20mm cannon fire. It was tracked for a number of months until the battery in its Argos beacon failed. |  |
By comparison, our current project is relatively straightforward. We now have a mould of thePhil Morrison pair design that he has most generously placed in the public domain. We can build future boats from the mould in partnership with the Ocean Rowing Society. The boat that served as a plug was the epoxy sandwich boat we built for Alan Lock and Matt Boreham. ‘Gemini’ is attempting the Atlantic crossing from La Gomera to the Antigua in January 08 in aid of the charity SENSE.
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With a mould we are able to offer production boats that can either be conventional GRP polyester or epoxy for greater strength/less weight. Both will have the great advantage of a gel finish, avoiding the need for painting. These should be an attractive alternative to the second-hand plywood ‘Challenge’ boats that are on the market. |
| Of course we also retain the ability to design and build one off boats for other ocean adventures. |  |