Spending 63 days, six hours and 25 minutes at sea is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea and there were plenty of stormy, emotional and physically difficult times for Galway man Damian Browne who battled the elements and much more in his successful 4,800km Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge solo crossing.
Browne who was the final finisher of the Atlantic Challenge for the 2017 event that started in December in La Gomera, Spain received a heroes welcome to English Harbour, Antigua late yesterday evening Irish time.
Standing on his boat at the finish his roar of relief and emotion was captured live on his Facebook page before he stepped ashore and was embraced in a sea of green hugs and support from his family and friends who had travelled to greet him with ‘We are the Champions’ blasting out across the pier over the PA system.
Commenting on his crossing Damian said: “What a challenge. What a journey. What a nine weeks, I lived every second of it, and I still can’t believe I did it”
Damian who is no stranger to tough mental and physical challenges, having completed Marathon Des Sable a few years ago said: “Without a doubt this is the toughest challenge I have ever taken on – but one I’ll never forget”
The former Connacht and Leinster rugby player kept his fans and supporters enthralled and engaged with his adventure through his honest raw and emotional videos that were uploaded to Facebook during his solo crossing of the Atlantic. There will be plenty to celebrate and undoubtedly a big party when he returns to Galway in the coming days.
We are sure this is not the last of Damian’s challenging exploits and look forward to seeing what he decides to do next once he has recovered from this epic nautical adventure. Congratulations Damian from all of us at Runireland.com.
Photo Source: Damian Browne Facebook page