Mobile veterans’ team says the battered vessel, Woobie, will be brought home for study.
LA ROCHELLE, FRANCE — A 28-foot ocean rowboat abandoned by four U.S. Air Force veterans during a 2022 Atlantic crossing has been found off France and towed into port, the team and French maritime officials said Wednesday, closing a long drift that began after a mid-ocean capsize.
The recovery ends a mystery that started during the World’s Toughest Row, an annual 3,000-nautical-mile race from the Canary Islands to Antigua. The Mobile, Alabama–based nonprofit Fight Oar Die said its boat, Woobie, was spotted this month by a commercial fishing crew in the Bay of Biscay and secured at Port La Rochelle. The group plans to examine the hull for clues to the December 2022 rollover and arrange transport to Alabama, with the find offering rare, real-world data on how an ocean rowing craft weathers years at sea.
Woobie’s voyage turned into a rescue 16 days after the team left La Gomera in the Canary Islands. A large wave rolled the boat overnight, and the self-righting system failed to bring her back. The four-man crew deployed a life raft and were later picked up by a bulk carrier after roughly 22 hours adrift in heavy winter seas. The rowboat—its hatches sealed and safety gear depleted—was left to the Atlantic. “Woobie has been adrift for almost three years, and maybe she will help provide answers to that stormy night,” Fight Oar Die founder and 2022 crewmember Bryant Knight said. French maritime responders directed the tow after the fishing crew reported what looked like a small “ghost ship” off the country’s west coast.
Harbor workers guided the scratched, barnacle-streaked hull into La Rochelle, a historic port on France’s Bay of Biscay. Photos shared by the team show deck hardware intact, oarlocks scarred, and solar panels weathered by sun and salt. Inside, personal items were still stowed, including a set of service dog tags that crew families had written off as lost. Officials said the boat was secured on arrival for inspection and customs processing. It was not immediately clear how much water intrusion the cabin endured, whether electronics logged portions of the drift, or how many structural fixes will be needed before transport. The team identified the vessel by name markings and unique gear placements, and French authorities recorded the find as a non-casualty recovery with no injuries or pollution reported.
The race, also known as the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, draws dozens of ocean rowing teams each winter. Boats are built to self-right after rollovers, but violent squalls in the eastern Atlantic can overwhelm small craft. In Woobie’s case, crew accounts describe repeated attempts to right the hull before abandoning ship under safety protocols. Their rescue by the Dutch-flagged freighter Hanze Göteborg ended the crossing but not the boat’s journey; prevailing winds and the North Atlantic gyre likely steered the empty craft north and west, then south along Europe before waves pushed it ashoreward. La Rochelle’s proximity to fishing grounds and salvage operators made a controlled recovery possible once the “drifter” was reported.
Fight Oar Die formed in 2016 to raise awareness and funds for veteran mental health through endurance rowing. The group has fielded multiple Atlantic teams and conducts outreach with military families. Knight said engineers and builders will review Woobie’s hull and self-righting components once the boat returns to Mobile, looking for evidence of damage patterns from the capsize and long exposure at sea. “Understanding what failed and what held up can improve the sport,” Knight said. The nonprofit credited the fishing crew that made the initial report and the Marine Rescue Coordination Center in western France for coordinating the tow.
Next steps include paperwork to release the vessel from port custody, overland transport arrangements within France, and trans-Atlantic shipping. The team expects to repatriate Woobie in early 2026 if schedules hold. After inspection, the boat could be displayed in Mobile with documentation of the drift and recovery, though final plans were not announced. No new charges or investigations are pending; the original 2022 incident was treated as a weather-related capsize with a completed at-sea rescue. Race organizers have said teams regularly brief on heavy-weather procedures, and this year’s edition remains on the calendar with standard safety checks.
Locals gathered along the La Rochelle quays to watch the scarred rowboat arrive behind a small tug as gulls circled and rain bands moved through. “You could see she has been out a long time,” said dockhand Marc Delorme, gesturing at the fouled waterline and chipped bow. In Mobile, volunteers who trained with the veterans’ crew swapped text messages as pictures of Woobie surfaced online. “It’s surreal to see her back,” said supporter Alicia Morgan. “We never thought those tags or that boat would be found.” A port worker said crews used soft lines to protect the lightweight hull while tying it alongside, then moved it to a cradle near the harbor’s sea wall.
As of Wednesday evening, Woobie remained secured in La Rochelle while the team coordinated logistics with port officials. The next expected milestone is a formal handover and inspection window in early January, followed by crating and shipment paperwork. The crew members rescued in 2022 were not immediately traveling to France, but the nonprofit said at least one representative plans to view the boat on-site before it departs. The recovery closes a three-year drift and sets up a stateside return that could turn a lost-at-sea story into a case study for ocean rowing safety.
Author note: Last updated December 31, 2025.