Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Trans-Tasman rower makes landfall

Updated at 3:47 pm on 15 March 2010

Shaun Quincey has succeeded in his bid to row across the Tasman, reaching the Northland coast on Sunday afternoon 54 days after setting off in his boat Tasman Trespasser.

Mr Quincey, 25, left Coffs Harbour on the New South Wales coast in late January to emulate the crossing made by his father, Colin Quincey, who made the crossing in 63 days in 1977.

Mr Quincey's supporters began gathering on Sunday morning on a stretch of Ninety Mile Beach, expecting him to reach shore by mid-morning, but that stretched out to midday. He reached the shore about 12.30pm.

A large crowd of friends, family and wellwishers cheered as Mr Quincey, who is a surf lifesaver, swam a kilometre to shore after abandoning his boat to avoid the risk from heavy surf on the beach.

The boat has since been recovered intact.

Mr Quincey told his wellwishers that completing the journey was one of the best feelings he'd ever had ,saying it had been a two-year journey and he had a lot of people to thank.

Friends say he has lost weight but is otherwise unharmed. They say Mr Quincey had been rowing since 4am and had been battling three-metre swells.

A squad of inflatable rescue boats, jet skis and other craft was at the beach.

Mr Quincy rowed about 2200km and became only the second person to row solo across the Tasman, after his father.

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