A former engineering firm leader who rowed 3,000 miles across the Atlantic in the world’s toughest race is taking on a new challenge in the Arctic.
Reece Group’s ex-chief executive Phil Kite started last year with a world record under his belt, having spent 42 days at sea with three other athletes who made up Team Tyne Innovation in the Tallisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.
The team became the fastest mixed four to cross the ocean, using the experience to showcase North East innovations made and donated to aid their journey, while also raising funds for regional charities.
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Now Mr Kite, who is now a business mentor in the North East, has signed up to join seasoned adventurer Leven Brown in his NWP 2021 The Ultimate Ocean Row challenge, a 2,000-mile Arctic challenge.
Mr Kite first got to know Mr Brown when he was preparing to row the Atlantic two years ago, enlisting the experienced rowing skipper to help prepare his team’s boat.
They kept in touch after Team Tyne Innovation returned to Tyneside and, keen for a new challenge, Mr Kite signed up as a team member as soon as Mr Brown said he was planning a new adventure.
He said: “Over the two year journey of training for the Atlantic row I went through big highs and lows. When we finished I was on a huge high but a week later when I was back home I thought to myself: ‘Is that it?’
“I called Leven, told him I was feeling a bit down and he said he had a few irons in the fire. Six months later when he called to say he had this new challenge I said ‘I’m in!’ . I didn’t even know all the details and signed up before I knew what I was doing!
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“When I got the details I thought it was definitely something that’s challenging – that’s for me.”
The NWP 2021 challenge will see the team aim to be the first to row the infamous Northwest Passage, the 2000-mile Arctic route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Frozen for most of the year, they are planning to row the passage during the Arctic’s brief summer, which can still see temperatures dip to -10C, high winds, ice and the region’s predators.
The plan is to take three boats, each with a five-man crew, with two rowing positions. Team members will take it in turns to row and rest, around the clock, while also acting as a lookout to make sure the boat can pass safely through the ice.
Just as there is only a short window of opportunity for climbers to summit Mount Everest each year, so too is there a finite number of days when the North West passage is free of ice to travel through.
And the team will have to row very fast during that small window of time to make sure they don’t get blocked in by the ice.
There will be risks, but there will also be great opportunities in the hostile environment, not least of all the rare chance to document how the ice and changing temperatures are affecting life in the Arctic and what this may mean for the future.
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Mr Kite is hoping one of the North East universities will want to get involved and supply scientific monitoring kit - or perhaps even join the adventure.
He said: “This is not a race as such, but we will still have to row hard because if we don’t there’s a chance we won’t get through.
“We should also see some amazing wildlife, like whales, but obviously there’s some serious predators too, including polar bears. We’ll just have to make sure we can row faster than they can swim!
“I’m looking forward to meeting the Innuit communities there too. They have an amazing history and I want to get to know and understand their way of life.”
Just as Team Tyne Innovation transformed its boat into a living exhibit that showcased North East products and services, Mr Kite hopes North East, national and international firms will become involved in this challenge.
The team is also looking for sponsors, for the NWP 2021 exhibition as a whole, for the boat and individual team members.
For more information on The Ultimate Ocean Row visit