Early Rowing Career

Martin started rowing at 14 at Hampton School

Hampton School

Hampton School is an independent boys' day school in Hampton, London, England.-History:In 1556, Robert Hammond, a wealthy brewer who had acquired property in Hampton, left in his will provision for the maintenance of a 'free scole' and to build a small schoolhouse 'with seates in yt' in the...

. At the end of his third year of rowing he raced as part of the British team and remained part of the British rowing team at six World Rowing Championships

World Rowing Championships

The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA . It is a week long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the international rowing calendar.The first event was held in Lucerne, Switzerland in 1962...

 returning with a medal from each.

1997 Hazewinkel, Belgium : World Junior Championships JM8+ 3rd

1998 Ottensheim, Austria : World Junior Championships JM4+ 3rd

1999 Plovdiv, Bulgaria : World Junior Championships JM4- 2nd

2000 Copenhagen, Denmark : Nations Cup M4+ 1st

2001 Ottensheim, Austria : U23 World Championships M4- 2nd

2001 Lucerne, Switzerland : World Rowing Championships M4+ 3rd

Martin also competed in the World Cup races in 2002 but without repeating his earlier medal winning form.

Ocean Rowing

Having been dropped from the GB squad, Martin turned his attention to Ocean rowing

Ocean rowing

Ocean rowing is the sport of rowing across oceans. The sport is as much a psychological as it is a physical challenge. Rowers often have to endure long periods at sea without help often many days if not weeks away. The challenge is especially acute for solo rowers who are held in especially high...

 and in 2005/06 rowed across the Atlantic Ocean solo, as part of the Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race

Atlantic Rowing Race

The Atlantic Rowing Race is a challenging ocean rowing race from the Canary Islands to the West Indies, a distance of approximately 2,550 nm . The race was founded by Sir Chay Blyth and first held in 1997 with subsequent races roughly every two years since. The early races were run by Challenge...

 in 68 days, 15 hours and 19 minutes to become the 31st solo ocean rower to cross the Atlantic Ocean on the East to West route. During his row he also conducted observations on the ocean currents affecting his boat Pacific Pete for Earth & Space Research as part of Ocean Surface Current Analyses Real-time (OSCAR).

Martin remained an active member within the Ocean Rowing community and was one of the co-founders of the Association of Ocean Rowers.

After this Martin spent three years preparing for a double handed row with Mick Dawson. On 8 May 2009 Martin and Dawson set off from Choshi, Japan

Choshi, Chiba

is a city located on the Pacific Ocean coast of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is the easternmost city in the Greater Tokyo Area. The easternmost point in the Greater Tokyo Area is Cape Inubō....

 into the North Pacific Ocean. After an eventful journey where the crew sighted the US Naval research vessel SBX-1

Sea-based X-band Radar

Sea-Based X-Band Radar is a floating, self-propelled, mobile radar station designed to operate in high winds and heavy seas. It is part of the U.S. Defense Department Ballistic Missile Defense System....

. and ran out of food requiring a helicopter resupply from Wayne Lackey
189 Days, 10 Hours, 55 Minutes after the pair set out from Japan they rowed their boat Bojangles underneath the Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...

 on Friday 13 November 2009.

In 2010 Martin and Dawson were given a Guinness World Record for being the first team to row across the North Pacific Ocean.

In 2011 Martin set up New Ocean Wave, to arrange a race across the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii, to be run in 2014.

External links

• Association of Ocean Rowers