Australian Team Freedom crewed by Patrick Weinrauch and Paul McCarthy claimed second place in the Ward Evans Atlantic Rowing Challenge yesterday (21 November 2001). They landed at Port St Charles, Barbados at 1835 GMT.

They completed the crossing in 45 days, arriving in Barbados only three days behind their Kiwi rivals Steve Westlake and Matt Goodman in Telecom Challenge 1.

Freedom and Telecom Challenge 1 were neck and neck for the first two weeks polling positions as close as three miles apart. Telecom Challenge 1 overtook Freedom on 25 October and never gave up their lead, winning the race after 42 days on 18 November.

After reaching Barbados, Paul McCarthy and Patrick Weinrauch from Team Freedom, commented, “It’s great to be back on dry land and see so many of our friends and family. It was a tough race, but we’ve both had a fantastic experience.”