MOSCOW, August 22 (RIA Novosti) - A new rowing boat was built in Ipswich, eastern England, for famous Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov, who plans to cross the Pacific Ocean in it, the project’s press service has said.
An extensive traveler, Konyukhov has reached the North Pole three times, the South Pole, the Pole of Inaccessibility in the Arctic Ocean. He has set world records by crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a rowboat in 46 days, as well as crossing Greenland on a dogsled in 22 hours. He has also made several round the world trips alone on yachts.
On December 12, his 62nd birthday, Konyukhov plans to set off for an unprecedented 200-day journey in a rowing boat to cover about 8,000 nautical miles from the Chilean port of Valparaiso to Australia’s eastern coast. No successful crossing of the Pacific Ocean in a rowing boat has been recorded so far.
“The new boat is almost three meters longer that the Uralaz boat in which Fyodor crossed the Atlantic Ocean, but as it is fully made of carbon fiber, its weight does not exceed that of the six-meter Uralaz boat,” Konyukhov’s press service said in a statement.
The boat weights 260 kilograms (over 570 lbs) when empty and is expected to weight 600 kilograms (over 1,300 lbs) when loaded with cargo.
It will be showcased at Southampton Boat Show this September and will leave for Valparaiso on October, 15.
