Seventy48 2025: “Triple By-Pass” and the Row to Remember

By Oliver Laurence and Roy Mangel

Some races are just about distance. Others are about speed.

The Seventy48 is about heart. About grit. About water, darkness, tides, and the quiet roar of your limits being redrawn.

For us—two “Ancient Mariners” with calloused hands, creaky knees, and more than a few miles on the odometer—it became something more. A reckoning, a communion, and ultimately, a celebration.

This year, we rowed without landfall for 70 miles in 16 hours and 27 minutes, finishing 15th overall out of 104 teams, and 4th among 45 rowboats.

But those numbers don’t even begin to tell the story.

The Boat Named for a Heart Rebuilt

Our vessel for this year’s journey was a Finnish-designed Savo 650D, built locally on Bainbridge Island and named “Triple By-Pass.” The name isn’t just cheeky—it’s deeply personal. Oliver, who spearheaded our campaign, suffered a heart attack in 2009 and underwent a triple bypass operation. That event cracked life wide open. It didn’t just save his heart—it redirected it.

Rowing had been part of his youth, a distant echo of schoolboy competition and camaraderie. But after the bypass, it returned with clarity and urgency. Training became a ritual. Water became medicine.

The boat’s colour is an “Ancient Mariners” red, and is a proud nod to the storied Seattle rowing club of the same name—a community of older, spirited rowers who’ve been accused of everything from reckless enthusiasm to rowdy breakfasts. Both Roy and Oliver are members. Like all true Mariners, they wear their years with salt and laughter.

At the bow of Triple By-Pass is a striking Native American salmon graphic, inspired by a visit to the Pacific Northwest art exhibit at the Island County Historical Museum in Coupeville, Whidbey Island. In Native art and culture, the salmon symbolizes life, abundance, renewal, and interconnectedness—exactly what this boat and this journey represent.

The salmon’s circular, stylized form is a reminder that life moves in cycles. That hardship can lead to transformation. That we are part of something vast, breathing, and sacred.

From Training to Transformation

Roy, who joined the crew with a history of surfboat rowing back East, reflected:

“When Oliver asked me to row with him, I didn’t blink. I didn’t even think. It just rang as fun. I didn’t realize that my so-called long-distance experience—those 26-mile rows—would turn out to be just our average training days.”

And train we did. Across the seasons, through Puget Sound’s moods—cold mornings, whitecapped afternoons, glassy dusks. The Savo isn’t a fast boat. But we learned her rhythm. We learned each other. And we built something the stopwatch can’t measure.

“Oliver put so much thought, vision, and sustenance into making sure we would not just attempt this race, but find the best of ourselves while doing it,” Roy wrote. “Even on the nastiest days, I kept thinking: this is fun. Not very safe—but fun.”

The Race: A Night to Remember

The race began in Tacoma with a jostle of boats, a crush of anticipation, and a strange, collective silence as paddles dipped for the first stroke. It was on. And it would not relent.

We pushed through headwinds, hours of darkness, and tide-fighting canals,. We shared friendly but ferocious battles for position with other teams. At times, the water moved against us. In the Port Townsend Ship Canal, we had to summon every reserve to keep the forward momentum going.

But the night… oh, the night.

The moon waned. Stars appeared. At one point, the International Space Station arced overhead, tracing a path we could only imagine. Our oar puddles glowed with bioluminescence, each stroke a shimmering pulse of light. It was magic—pure and undiluted.

“The stars and bioluminescent puddles erased almost every stitch of pain,” Roy recalled. “The sunrise renewed us. The sea lions and porpoises barked and danced around us. It was like the Sound was cheering us on.”

The Visit from Indy

Then came the moment that made the race sacred.

Just off Point No Point, as dawn began brushing the sky with pink and gold, a massive orca surfaced just 50 yards off our stern—silent, majestic, present. Just passing us by — acknowledging our presence and assuring us that all was good.

Later, we learned he was T65A5, known as Indy – approx. 25 ft long and weighing in at  around 12,000 lbs —a 15-year-old male Bigg’s (transient) killer whale, born in 2010. Indy is part of the T65A matriline, normally traveling with his mother Artemis and younger siblings. Today, Indy was on his own . He disappeared below the water and we didn’t see a sign of him again despite the water being like glass. These orcas are apex predators and frequent travelers of the Salish Sea, seen often but never expected.

“That orca erased any negativity I had left,” Roy wrote. “I was at my third wall. Then there he was—Indy. He didn’t just swim past; he reminded me why we were here.”

We rowed on in an untypical silence, humbled.

The Finish and the Fullness

The final miles were brutal. Our muscles screamed. Our joints groaned. But there was no stopping. Not now.

“I hurt so much I almost cried when we finished,” Oliver said. “But my heart was full. To row this Sound, in this boat, with this friend… I’ve never done anything this hard. I’ve never felt anything this rewarding.”

It’s hard to summarize something like this. seventy miles can feel like forever—or a single, collapsing moment. But the truth is, we didn’t just row 70 miles. We rowed decades. We rowed second chances. We rowed into the heart of the Pacific Northwest and found it rowing back.

What Endures

The Triple By-Pass carries many meanings. For us, it means renewal—just like the salmon on her bow. It means enduring hardship and choosing transformation. It means community, tradition, and the thrill of a well-earned ache.

The Seventy48 asks a lot. But it gives back more.

And like Indy, swimming on in the morning quiet, we’ll be out there again. Because once you’ve rowed through the night and seen your soul in the oar puddles—you never quite come back the same

Acknowledgments

We want to express our deepest thanks to the organizers and volunteers of the SEVENTY48—your dedication and energy make this extraordinary event possible, and we’re incredibly grateful for all the unseen hours that go into creating something this meaningful and well-run.

To our families and friends: thank you for putting up with our obsessive schedule, early morning alarms, boat logistics, and endless training chatter. Your patience, love, and support made this possible.

A special shoutout to Katie, Colleen, and Laird for your logistical wizardry and for keeping us upright (on and off the water).

And finally—to our amazing community of friends and family around the world, thank you for cheering us on, tracking us, texting us, and making sure we never even thought about backing out. We rowed harder knowing you were with us, every mile.

To those of you thinking, should I, could I?  The answer is YES.
If you want some ideas on the how … get in touch and start your journey.

The Route
Start                7 pm June 6 2025 : Foss Way, Tacoma
Way point 1     Owens Beach
Way Point 2    Port Towsend Ship Canal
Finish              Maritime Center, Port Townsend