By Jonathan;
Given the majority of our team are part of the technology industry here on the Pacific Coast, appropriately, we are considering how the application of new wearables tech may be helpful for us during our row. After discussing with previous crews, there are invariably some teammates who struggle more than others, particularly at the start of the race. A oft-quoted line in ocean rowing is the hardest part is the first 3 days, survive that and you’ll make the rest (other variables aside).
After the first 12 hours at sea, we will be drained of any adrenaline or good sleep from our last days on land, so being able to judge our condition will be important for gauging individual efforts to avoid damaging situations and risking one of us being out of commission for more than a couple shifts.
In an example from a team we spoke to, one of them was so overcome with seasickness he barely ate for 7 days, and almost abandoned the race (had it not been for insightful organizers who stated a pickup would be 6 days away). He managed to recover and rowed the rest of the race.
But could this have been better detected and mitigated earlier? Did he get worn out without others realizing? I recently finished Mick Dawson’s Battling the Oceans in a Rowboat, and he had a similar instance with Chris Martin near the end of their epic North Pacific row, when Chris nearly got hypothermia. Making sure as teammates we keep each other in check is going to be key to keeping the boat operating as effectively as possible.
Companies like Athos and Whoop have wearable tech that connects to the cloud to analyze your heart rate and other variables to determine your strain and most importantly (subject to opinion), your recovery. The challenge with such devices is connectivity. While we will have limited access via satellite uplink, it may be a real challenge to get these devices to work effectively. This will certainly be an area worth exploring in more depth. Hard data will be far easier to contend with versus gauging ones overlying will and determination, which could cloud our better judgement on how much a teammate is overreaching. Having the ability to make decisions backed by data could give our team an edge on the water that previously wasn’t attainable.
