Olympic rower crosses treacherous waterway

Daredevil James Cracknell has completed another oar-some challenge with the most punishing row of his life – to cross a waterway which has claimed dozens of lives.
By The Newsroom
Published 12th May 2012, 07:00 BST

The double Olympic gold-winning oarsman put in a back-breaking eight-hour stint to become the first person in living memory successfully to cross the Foveaux Strait in New Zealand.

Cracknell – who suffered serious life-threatening head injuries during a cycling accident in the US in 2010 – is seen making the crossing in his Discovery Channel programme World’s Toughest Expeditions, to be screened at 9pm tomorrow.

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The treacherous waters have claimed more than 20 lives in the last decade.

In March, several people were thought to have drowned when a fishing boat capsized in the strait.

Cracknell filmed his journey in January, crossing from Ruapuke Island to New Zealand’s South Island to investigate what sailors from the SS Dundonald – which was wrecked in the area more than 100 years ago – had to endure.

He tackled 25-knot winds using a basic wooden boat and with no compass.

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