Recently Kevin Gaskell visited St Gabriel’s to talk to pupils, parents and staff about Ocean 5, their fund raising for the Plastic Soup Foundation and the challenges they will face taking part in one of the world’s greatest physical challenges, the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. 

Kevin believes there are three stages to achieving extraordinary things.  You need to commit, connect (make a plan) and create, you can then go on to inspire others.  He has followed this mantra, walking to both the North and South Poles and climbing some of the world’s highest mountains.  The Atlantic row had been on his list of inspiring challenges for some time but the need to raise awareness of the fight against plastics in the oceans encouraged him to get on and make it happen.

The Ocean 5 team was formed following a motivational talk by Kevin at a conference in the South of France two years ago.  His talk inspired three of its delegates, all of whom worked on superyachts, to join him and his son, Matt, on the challenge of a lifetime, rowing 3000 miles unaided across the unforgiving Atlantic Ocean.  By taking part, the Ocean 5 team, Kevin Gaskell, Will Hollingshead, Chris Hodgson, Sam Coxon, and Matt Gaskell, hope to inspire others to reach their goals.

The team are in full training mode in preparation for pitting themselves against 37 teams of rowers rowing 24 hours a day against 60 foot waves for around 45 days.  During the trip they will be eating 7,000 calories a day, drinking 8 litres of liquid and testing their resilience to the very extremes of what humans can achieve.

Ocean 5’s aim is to raise £250,000 for the Plastic Soup Foundation, a charity doing amazing work in raising awareness of the issues of plastic waste in our oceans - at the current rate of growth, by 2050 there will be a greater weight of plastic than fish in the world's oceans.

The Talisker Whisky Atlantic challenge starts in San Sebastian, La Gomera, Canary Islands on 12 December, and the Ocean 5 team anticipating crossing the finishing line in Antigua around six weeks later.  To follow them visit www.theocean5.com