Santa hats, cake and the Atlantic Ocean: How Christmas was celebrated by HMS Oardacious

HMS Oardacious have had a rather different Christmas this year - celebrating the day in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, having covered more than 1,000 nautical miles of a race known as the World's Toughest Row.

The Royal Navy's ocean rowing team, who are currently taking part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, received phone calls from their families on Christmas day and enjoyed some festive treats. 

HMS Oardacious wrote online: "It was a very different Christmas for the guys this year."

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They posted on X: "Family phone calls, Santa hats and cake.

"We hope you had a good Christmas wherever you spent it, around the table with families, or on patrol beneath the sea with no family comms.

"Rob wore his Christmas hat on Christmas Day, all day. But now, more than 1,200 miles into the race, the team admit that this is getting very tough.

"They are absolutely grinding out each mile, embodying the very meaning of resilience."

By Boxing Day, the crew had covered 1,130 nautical miles in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, and since then have reached the 1,200 nautical mile mark.

Each member of the team is expected to row for two hours, rest for two hours and then repeat the process until the journey is complete.

HMS Oardacious are aiming to break the record for the fastest team to complete the 3,000-mile rowing challenge from the Canary Islands to Antigua.