British rower Oliver Hicks, 27, has broken free of the East Antarctic Current eddy which has kept him going in circles in the Tasman Sea for the past three weeks, and has resumed his journey toward New Zealand.
He was stopped from using New Zealand to launch his bid to become the first person to row solo around the world after maritime authorities threatened to confiscate his boat.
Instead, he launched from Tasmania on January 25, and headed toward New Zealand, but from February 4 to February 21 was just going round in circles, no matter how much he rowed.
" It seems to have been something to do with the East Australian Current (EAC) and the confused current vortex it creates between Australia and NZ - it may have been particularly bad where I was due to the East Tasman Plateau where I spent a lot of time making circles," he said in his blog.
Hicks is trying to row 1600km to the southern end of New Zealand, then turn east along 50 degrees south latitude across the Pacific towards Cape Horn. He then plans to drop down into the Southern Ocean, effectively circling Antarctica on his 24,000km round-the-world route.
But the weeks of delay in mid-Tasman may disrupt his plans to winter-over in South Georgia, below South America, from June to October. Hicks was carrying 360 days provisions when he left Tasmania, and has a fall-back plan to stop in Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America if he cannot reach South Georgia before the worst of the winter weather hits.
The lone rower's circles in the Tasman are visible on a website wwww.virginglobalrow.com, which is tracking his carbon-fibre rowboat, the Flying Carrot.
Before Hicks launched, Maritime New Zealand's general manager of strategy and communications, Lindsay Sturt, said Hicks' plan posed an extreme risk to his safety and jeopardised people involved in any rescue attempt.
"The risks inherent in Mr Hicks' proposed voyage are substantial and the likelihood of rescue being required is significant," he said.
An Australian kayaker who attempted to paddle from Tasmania to the southern end of New Zealand drowned in February 2007.
