Coloradan adventurer and Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons LLP partner Doug Tumminello is part of an eight-person crew set to re-write the record books as the fastest, unsupported group to row across the Indian Ocean.

The boat, Aud Eamus (Let Us Dare), launched from Geraldton, Western Australia on April 28, 2009, expecting to row 3100 nautical miles (or nearly 3,500 statute miles) to Port Louis, Mauritius, near South Africa. The team is looking to set a world record for an unsupported, human powered row across the Indian Ocean.

To complete the grueling journey, each crew member will row 12 hours per day, and are expected to row approximately 850,000 strokes – each. Doing this will burn approximately 10,000 calories a day.

The crew will have a satellite phone to stay in touch with family and to send in its location to the race sponsor's website. Follow the progress of Doug and his crew, online at http://www.indianoceanrowingrace09.com/progress/, or visit the team's site at www.piraterow.com.

"Ocean rowing is a new thing for me. I don't have ocean or maritime or sailing experience. What really got me into this is my fascination with Ernest Shackleton and his expedition in 1914 that eventually led to his desperate escape from Antarctica," Doug said in an interview with Law Week Colorado. His background is in mountaineering. Doug is a West Point graduate and an expert rock and ice climber. In 2006, Doug led an expedition that climbed to the summit of Mount Everest. If all goes to plan, Doug will be the first person to have summited Mount Everest and crossed the Indian Ocean in an oar-powered boat.