Final checks as military personnel among teams gearing up for 'world's toughest row'

Military personnel and veterans are among the teams gearing up for the 'world's toughest row' – the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

The extreme endurance event is an annual challenge that sees competitors row more than 3,000 miles, travelling west from San Sebastian in La Gomera, Canary Islands, to Nelson's Dockyard English Harbour, in Antigua and Barbuda.

This year, 43 crews, a record number of entrants, will battle sleep deprivation, hallucinations and hunger all with the same objective – to take on the unique experience of crossing an ocean in a rowing boat.

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The teams, made up of solos, pairs, trios, fours and fives, are spending their last few days on dry land making their final equipment checks and organising their kit before the race starts on Monday.

Each rower will drink an average of 10 litres of water and burn 5,000 calories a day while facing possible 40ft waves, isolation and potential seasickness.

Many serving and former serving military personnel are among the teams.

HMS Oardacious, a team made up of Royal Navy submariners, is back this year to showcase their "professionalism and adaptability as submariners, pushing ourselves both physically and mentally".

The team previously fundraised more than £100,000 in support of mental health initiatives, and they will look to continue to build on their legacy by raising money for their service charity RNRMC (The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity) to provide mental health and well-being support to their community.

Force News was able to get a tour of the boat that will be transporting the submariners the 3,000km distance.

The team even answered the "burning question": how do you go to the toilet on an ocean rowing boat?

"It's a bucket. We have lanyards on the buckets, because if the toilet runs away from you then you're not going to use it," Petty Officer Jon Norfolk said.

Team Atlantic Guardsmen, is another of the military teams competing this year.

With a team made up of serving members of the Scots Guards, both officers and soldiers, they are "relishing the challenge of pushing themselves physically and mentally".

However, they say they also have a "much greater purpose" - raising money for charity.

"Our passion to support serving and veteran soldiers is the primary motivator for entering the race, and at the very heart of our drive and determination to raise sponsorship and awareness for our service charity – the Scots Guards Charity," they said.

Lieutenant Max Lawrence, who is part of the four-man crew, spoke to Forces News about his ambitions of winning the race and the "nice bit of competition" with the other military teams.

"So, we didn't start this aiming to win it, your goals kind of shift as you get here. The competitive nature, especially being in the Army, kicks in.

"I think our goal as a team, we'd like to try and be the fastest military team to do it. The current record is 36 days. Obviously, the HMS Oardacious boys are going to be gunning for that, as well, so a nice bit of competition there."