Four Seattle men have been braving the wind, waves and rain of the Atlantic Ocean as they attempt to win the 3,100 nautical mile Shepard Ocean Fours Rowing Race from New York to England.

The team was less than 250 miles from the finish line at the maritime port of Falmouth, England, 300 miles west of London. The Seattle Team, OAR (Ocean Adventure Racing) Northwest is leading the race as of August 12. The team is led by Jordan Hanssen and his teammates are Greg Spooner, Brad Vickers and Dylan LeValley. They were featured in a News-Tribune story this past April as they trained at the Seattle Maritime Academy for the race.

They left New York on June 10 along with three other teams from England. One group, Team Sevenoaks dropped out of the race.

This left OAR Northwest to compete with the Yorkshire Warrior and Team Hesco. The four-man record for the race is 60.7 days. OAR Northwest if it maintained its current pace, would have finished in 64.3 days.

Rowers are following the same course traveled by Norwegian immigrants George Harbo and Frank Samuelson in 1896. Harbo and Samuelson made the trip in 55 days. It is a record that still stands today.

OAR Northwest has been logging reports daily progress reports on their website www.oarnorthwest.com.

A rare meeting with a pod of whales on July 12 was described by Vickers.

"They skirted around the boat before setting just off our bow to play...Below us you could hear beeps, chirps and moans as they frolicked around the hull. They surrounded us for 15 minutes and provided the most intimate encounter I have ever experienced with animals in nature. It's a surreal feeling to be surrounded by creatures that are equal in size to our boat and at times no more than five feet away from us," said Vickers.

The OAR Northwest crew takes turns rowing in pairs for two hours at a time. Their top rowing speed is three knots, about the same as walking at a fast pace. In good current they can reach five knots.

"Good miles mean good days. Period. However, this does not mean they come easy. There are times between getting thrown off your seat by irate waves and listening to the rain patter on the cabin just before your shift starts that you think that it might be nice for some warm weather and calmer waves. Yet, the desire for speed is a strong one and it serves as good motivation to combat misery," said Hanssen on July 17.

When the winds are blowing the boat in the wrong direction, they set anchor. The racers are eating freeze-dried or boiled in the bag food, in addition to chocolates, dried fruit and energy bars. They are trying to eat 8,500 calories a day. A water desalinator is used to change salt water into fresh water.

Crews must be self-sufficient during the entire race and everything they need to survive is stored aboard their boats. A GPS (Global Positioning System) is used to navigate. Electricity is generated by solar panels or windmills on the cabin roof.

A safety vessel is following the three boats with a medic aboard and is available for emergencies. Any intervention disqualifies a team.

On July 21, Spooner had this to say about the non-rowing hours. "Rowing fast became the easy part of this grand adventure across the Atlantic Ocean. And still with just under 1,000 miles to go, a two-hour row, followed by some food and a short nap (and visions of dry land) is plenty motivation to keep bending the oars. Yet, it's the in-between stuff that, for one reason or another, is the more difficult part of living in cramped quarters with three other dudes. Bathing, laundry, tooth brushing and facilities (i.e. the bucket) take on a whole new significance."

Spooner goes on to say, " the constant reminder though is that your body begins to break down, or fall apart really, without keeping up on the basics. Your teeth will ache, your jock will itch, your clothes will smell, and the cramp of all intestinal cramps will never leave you be. So if you want to be comfortable (comfort?) find a way."

Supporters of OAR Northwest have been logging onto the website, which is receiving 60,000 hits a day. Another team goal of OAR Northwest is to raise $300,000 for the American Lung Association of Washington. They also need donations to pay for their trip back to the Northwest from England after completion of the race.