ABOUT Guy DRESSER- Dressed to Keel
ROWING SOLO WORLD’S TOUGHEST ROW 2027
Guy’s a communications director and former journalist, an ex British team kayaker and an ocean rower with one successful Atlantic crossing already under his belt.
Background
My poor hand-eye coordination kept me out of football teams for most of my life and meant my schooldays were more about music than sport. Fortunately, I’ve been messing about in small boats since I was a boy. I built a fibreglass canoe at 12 and thanks to an enthusiastic school teacher found my passion in life. I made it to the Great Britain team five years later, won the non-stop, 125-mile (200 km) Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race at just 19 and raced internationally for a decade.
Retiring from competitive sport in my 20s, I went off to develop my career as a finance journalist, grabbing whatever time I could on the water. I kept fit by cycling to work in London every day and taking part in rowing machine competitions. Posted to Switzerland for a new job in 2009, I have indulged my passion for canoeing on lakes and rivers across this magnificent country. I have also managed to pursue my other obsession, which is playing music. I am a clarinetist in a 43-piece concert band in Walchwil, Canton Zug. It’s my greatest pleasure off the water.
Dressed To Keel
~
Dressed To Keel ~
Why I’m Rowing…
Rowing the Atlantic holds a certain mystique for me. I heard of the first transatlantic race in 1997 through an acquaintance at Royal Canoe Club in Teddington, England. The Scottish adventurer Jock Wishart, a club member, had taken part and I was entranced by his tales of calluses, capsizes and mid-Atlantic derring-do. If you have a weakness, the sea will find it, he warned. I was hooked: I started a file and kept every news cutting on the event that I ever came across.
Twenty years later, I was randomly emailed by a canoeing friend, Martin Beaumont, asking if I knew anyone who might join his rowing team. Barely an hour later, we were on the phone making plans. It was the adventure of a lifetime but celebrations were cut short. We arrived in Antigua just days before the pandemic. Life shut down and, unable to capitalise fully on our row for our charitable partner, I vowed to do it again.
Connection to the Cause
In 2019, I rowed the Atlantic as part of Team Margot Atlantic Rowers to raise awareness of the Global Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Register.
Now, I’m doing it solo, again for patients who need a stem cell donor as Margot Martini, the daughter of friends of mine, did. Margot was a baby when diagnosed with a rare blood cancer. Her only hope was a stem cell donor. No one should die because a good match can’t be found.
DKMS runs the global register. If my row inspires even one person to join the register and save a life, every mile will be worth it. I’m rowing to give others the chance Margot needed.
My Values
As a world-class athlete, I learned the 5 ‘Ps’ – perfect preparation prevents poor performance. But my values are the 5 ‘Cs’:
-
Curiosity:
A relentless drive to explore, question, and understand. It’s the fuel for growth, and the mindset that turns obstacles into opportunities. How far can I push myself? Curiosity will help keep the journey alive.
-
Courage:
The will to face fear, pain, or uncertainty, to take risks even when the outcome is uncertain. How will I deal with fear? By falling back on my training and my confidence to get the job done.
-
Consistency:
Showing up even when I don’t feel like it, training relentlessly and having the discipline to push myself, day after day, mile after mile. Showing up even when I don’t feel like it, training relentlessly and having the discipline to push myself, day after day, mile after mile.
-
Conviction:
Holding firm to my beliefs, that I am trying to be the best version of myself, to be a force for good and to always keep trying.
-
Character:
You don’t have to be Superman to row an ocean. But you do need to be true to yourself. I try to live with integrity, humility and to be authentic. It’s who I am when no one is watching!
FuN Facts ABOUT GUY DRESSER
I kept a 20-year Atlantic Row file on my shelf: After hearing tales of ocean adventure in 1997, I started collecting every news clipping I could find. Twenty years later, I finally lived the dream — and now I’m going solo.
I once cycled the length of Britain “just because”. From Land’s End to John O’Groats in seven days, no race, no fanfare, just two mates and a shared sense of “why not?”
I kayaked 3,000 miles down the Danube for my 50th birthday.
While most people book a party, I booked six weeks off work and paddled from the Black Forest to the Black Sea. Best midlife crisis ever.
I swapped football boots for a clarinet.
Hopeless at ball sports thanks to poor hand-eye coordination, I spent my school years playing music instead of scoring goals. Now I play in a 43-piece concert band in Switzerland, the Musikgesellschaft Walchil. Find us on Spotify!
I built my first canoe at 12. While other kids were building Lego castles, I was laying fibreglass in an old cellar at a school that looked like Hogwarts. That canoe led me to a decade of international racing for Great Britain.
I’ve raced internationally, but I still get stage fright playing the clarinet.
I’ve faced Atlantic storms and 125-mile kayak races, but there’s nothing like a solo in front of a large audience to make my palms sweat!
I’m rowing solo across the Atlantic to save lives-and I need your help to get to the start line.
This isn’t just an adventure. It’s a campaign to support DKMS, the charity that runs the global stem cell register working to find matches for patients like two-year-old Margot Martini, who needed a donor to survive. Every stroke I row is for those still waiting.
Here’s how you can make a difference:
Sponsor the journey: Help me cover the costs of this epic challenge and get me to the start line.
Donate to DKMS: Your contribution helps fund lifesaving work.
Join the stem cell register: It takes minutes—and you could be the match that saves a life.