Row4Ukraine – the challenge begins.
Since the Russian invasion over 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and over 400,000 wounded. Our good friend Lee Spencer, single leg amputee and former Royal Marine, and his all-disabled crew are about to embark on an epic challenge to raise much-needed funds for the rehabilitation of Ukrainian Wounded, Injured and Sick (WIS) service personnel.
Surrey Steels are immensely proud to sponsor Lee and his team (Andy Merry, Ivan Gavrylko and Pavlo Bilous) in the Row4Ukraine Atlantic Challenge - rowing 3,000 miles, unsupported, from Gran Canaria to Barbados.
The team will be rowing for around 50-60 days, facing unpredictable weather, towering waves, and the mental and physical isolation of being at sea. Rowing any ocean is tough – but for an all-disabled crew rowing unsupported, it’s a monumental task. With two-hour shifts of rowing followed by two hours of rest, they will constantly face the physical challenge of switching positions in a moving boat, all while battling immense Atlantic waves.
The boat, named Sofya, was built by Dmytro Rezvoy, a Ukrainian ocean-rowing boat builder. The devastating human cost of the war in Ukraine was brought home to Dmytro when his childhood friend Ivan Gavrylko (who is one of the four crew members), was badly injured. Wanting to help those who have been are injured and to draw attention to the human cost of war, Dmytro built the boat for Team Row4Ukraine.
