‘Enjoy rather than endure’ – Olly Hicks fights hurricanes and high seas to be the first person to row around the Antarctic
Olly Hicks embarks on his second attempt to complete another world first by rowing through the notorious Southern Ocean
By the time adventurer Olly Hicks had sat through his third hurricane, alone in the Tasman Sea, he was “blasé” about the phenomenon.
The 36-year-old Briton was in the midst of his first attempt to row solo around the Antarctic, but the front cabin was too large and was catching the wind.
With fierce winds behind him, Hicks should have been flying along.
“The boat was acting like a weather vain and was being pushed sideways,” he said.
The Australia to New Zealand leg took 96 days, which would have extrapolated to years for the entire circumnavigation.
But direction of the boat aside, he felt safe and has drawn a great deal of confidence that he can survive the brutal weather on his next attempt with his newly-designed smaller cabin.