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After leaving from Peru in March 2007 Ralph will set course for the city of Brisbane in Australia, where he expects to arrive in end-September.
Prior to this voyage Ralph crossed succesfully the Atlantic Ocean between La Gomera (in the Canaries) and Curacao in 2006. This crossing of approximately 5,000 kilometres was a dual expedition with his brother Michael Tuijn to conserve his strength for the monster voyage in 2007.
The ZEEMAN OCEAN CHALLENGE
The enthusiasm was palpable at Zeeman textielSupers B.V. from the moment they heard about the idea. The ambitious, yet basic and 'no-nonsense' character of the expedition is a perfect fit for the Zeeman mindset. The international nature of the project is a good match for the company as well, which has branches in 5 countries. And there's no doubting the fact that retail is a big-time sport!
Zeeman has played a major role in the realisation of the project since the initial introductions, not only through financial support but also by actively thinking about the challenges involved and coming up with solutions from its own business network.
The incentive for Zeeman textielSupers to act as the main sponsor for this project comes from the significance of the year 2007 to the company; that year will see both its 40th anniversary and the opening of its 1000th store in Europe. Both of these events clearly show that Zeeman textielSupers is serious in its ambition to become the number 1 in Europe for basic and housekeeping textiles, employing a core value of 'simplicity, multiplicity, discount' for which perseverance and a down-to-earth mentality are critical factors for success. These are all concepts that Zeeman textielSupers recognised in this project, which was initiated by Ralph Tuijn and has since been dubbed the ZEEMAN OCEAN CHALLENGE. Naturally, Zeeman also hopes to use the publicity surrounding this project to convey what the organisation stands for: ambition, internationality, straightforward, no-nonsense, success and retail as a big-time sport. The fact that Zeeman ("sailor") has chosen a nautical sports project speaks for itself.
Both Ralph Tuijn and the Zeeman Group are launching the ZEEMAN OCEAN CHALLENGE as a fundraising project, the goal of which being to sponsor each mile travelled with a certain amount of money. The money raised will go to the children's home in Mumbai (India), which was also sponsored by Zeeman, who have been involved with this project for a number of years now. The project is being managed by the Save the Streetchildren of India Foundation.
The ZEEMAN CHALLENGER
The ZEEMAN CHALLENGER has been hand-made. Ralph has had a lot of support in this from professional boat-builder Maurits Oud. The "Rowsell & Morissen" type was chosen for the model of the rowing boat to be used; it has been specially designed for ocean rowing and has turned out to be far and away the safest and most successful model. 80% of all rowed ocean crossings took place using this type of boat, and no notable accidents have ever taken place with them.
Building on the experiences from the first Dutch ocean crossing and those of foreign rowers who have used this boat in the past, various details have been modified to further improve the vessel, optimise its safety and increase the chances of success. The hull consists of 6mm and 9mm indelible glued beech plywood in combination with epoxy and matting.
The boat measures 720cm x 190cm and has an unladen weight of around 400kg. When fully loaded the weight will be around 1100kg. The ZEEMAN CHALLENGER conforms to the international safety regulations for nautical vessels on open water and will be equipped with an ultramodern satellite communication system along with the required maritime one.
The ZEEMAN CHALLENGER
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