Giltspur - Tom McClean's Record Breaking Boat

Tom McClean is a veteran of both the Parachute Regiment and the SAS and is a survival expert who lived on the island of

Rockall Rockall () is an uninhabitable granite islet situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. The United Kingdom claims that Rockall lies within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is part of its territory, but this claim is not recognised by Ireland ...

from 26 May to 4 July 1985 to affirm Britain's claim to it; this is the third longest human occupancy of the island, surpassed in 1997 by a team from

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

which spent 42 days on the island, and in 2014 by Nick Hancock who spent 45 days there.

Early life

Having been abandoned as a baby, McClean started life as an orphan at

Bethany Home Bethany Home (sometimes called Bethany House or Bethany Mother and Child Home) was a residential home in Dublin, Ireland, mainly for women of the Protestant faith, who were convicted of petty theft, prostitution, infanticide, as well as women who ...

Dublin, Ireland Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. He spent much of his teenage years working on a farm until he was bored and enlisted in the British Army. After Blyth and Ridgway rowed the Atlantic in 1966, McClean announced to both that he was going to complete this alone.

Military career

McClean started his military career in the Parachute Regiment and then progressed into the SAS for nine years.

Civilian life

Following his retirement from military service, McClean gained fame for numerous feats of endurance. He holds the world record as the first man to row across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

from west to east solo which he did in 1969. In 1982 he sailed across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

in the smallest boat to accomplish that crossing. The self-built boat measured 9 feet and 9 inches, and because of the weight of the food took seven weeks to cross. His record was broken three weeks later by a sailor manning a 9 feet and 1 inch long boat. In response McClean, used a chainsaw to cut two feet off his own vessel making it 7 feet and 9 inches long. During the return trip he lost his mast and the journey took even longer than his first attempt but he regained the record. In 1985 McClean lived on

from 26 May to 4 July and thereby reaffirmed the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

's claim to the island. Two years later, the then 44-year-old McClean set about regaining his transatlantic rowing record and achieved his goal crossing the

in 54 days; a record still held. In 1990 McClean completed a west-east crossing in a 37 ft

bottle A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal s ...

-shaped vessel, which had been constructed at

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the adm ...

by Springer Engineering, Foxton Canal Museum a firm with a past history of steel fabrication and narrowboat construction. The Typhoo Atlantic Challenger sailed from New York to Falmouth. This vessel is now preserved at Fort William Diving Centre. McClean's most recent feat was the construction, in 1996, of a boat shaped like a giant whale, which completed a circumnavigation of Britain. The boat, 'Moby' Prince of Whales, stands 25 ft high and 65 ft long. It has a spout which can launch water as high as 6 metres in the air. The Moby Dick, as of 2017, is in the process of conversion to electric power for an Atlantic crossing. He was the subject of ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'' in 1987 when he was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...

References

External links

McClean's website

Ardintigh Outdoor Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:McClean, Tom Living people British Parachute Regiment soldiers Special Air Service soldiers Single-handed sailors British motivational speakers 1942 births Rockall