Who Dares…Wins
Rowing Across the Atlantic
Article by: LtCol Vincent Rapp, OF-4 French Air Force
Departing on 25 November 2017 from Dakar in Senegal. Arriving about 1 million strokes and 4,700 km later in Cayenne, Guyana.
This is the challenge Gwenaël is going to face this Fall. An adjutant (OR-8) in a French elite regiment, he has participated in many operations in the service of his country and has devoted his life to the defense of our values.
Gwenaël is also an elite sportsman who has achieved numerous other feats for noble. After crossing the Pyrenees with a combination of hiking, biking, and paragliding in 9 days, the Alps in 8 days, and finishing a double Ironman in 36 hours, he will this year row across the Atlantic without assistance nor stopover.
Gwenaël wants not only to challenge himself physically and promote values linked to the surpassing of oneself, but above all to emphasize the importance of supporting wounded soldiers. While he himself was wounded in the Sahel a few years ago, he wants to inspire all soldiers who have been wounded physiologically and psychologically through this crossing, giving them the strength to dare.
He therefore invites you to take part in this action by buying his paddle strokes, and a cost of 0.1 Euros per stroke. All money raised will be donated to associations supporting wounded armed forces.
Gwenaël will be with his boat on 8-9 September 2017 during the SHAPE FEST at the French booth. This will be a unique opportunity to talk with him about his crossing, his organization, and the difficulties that he envisages meeting during this intense challenge.
If you are planning to attend SHAPE FEST, come meet Gwenaël and see his unique boats that will serve as his kitchen, dining room and bunk for 60 days. But above all, come and participate in the support of the wounded soldiers by buying strokes. A challenge we as SHAPIANS could take up would be to reach the 5,000 euros of donations required in order to be “paddle gold” and have the SHAPE logo on the hull of his boat
They gave everything, it’s our turn!
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For more information, please visit this website: www.rienquedubonheur.com
To watch the video on his double Iron Man, click here (French): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esft0hCdSgA&feature=youtu.be
Being First Matters