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Team hits halfway point in 'world's toughest row'

Lessons from a Boat A photo of four men sat on a small sailboat. Two are sat on the floor, one on a bag which is on the floor, and one is holding onto the edges of the boat and standing balanced on one side. The boat is docked at the time, with other boats of different sized on the background. It is a sunny day, and all four men are wearing caps, and smiling towards the camera.Lessons from a Boat
Jason Howard said "spirits are high" one month into the challenge

A team of four men have reached the halfway mark in "the world's toughest row" across the Atlantic ocean to raise money for charity.

Jason Howard from Sheffield is part of the group, called Lessons from a Boat, rowing from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua.

Since setting off on 12 December, they have faced 40ft (12m) waves and had to "fight for survival and to maintain upright", Mr Howard said.

"We are not the youngest or most fine-tuned of athletes … but we knew we were taking on a challenge not for the light-hearted, and were just using every reserve we had," he added.

Lessons from a Boat The same four men as pictured in the first image. Here they are stood at the side of an indoor swimming pool. They are in waterproof jackets, trousers and each wearing a head covering with a plastic see-through covering over their faces. They are all smiling and posing. One is holding his arm up as if he is flexing. Another has his arms round the shoulders of the two men either side of him, and has jumped up to have his legs in the air.Lessons from a Boat
The group of friends had been planning the challenge for three years

"We were totally, 100% exhausted after the first ten days, thinking it's going to be torturous, but thankfully the sea changes every day," Mr Howard said.

"Every day now is stunning, which is lovely compared to then.

"We count ourselves very lucky."

Steve Potter, Dan Dicker, Jon Wilburn and Mr Howard are raising money for Diabetes UK, Cancer Research and Final Straw Foundation.

The men are all aged in their 50s or 60s.

Mr Howard said his middle son, who has type 1 diabetes, has been "helped tremendously" by Diabetes UK, and that all three charities were close to the team's hearts.

'High spirits'

Each man is rowing two hours on, two hours off, for 24 hours a day, with two people rowing at any given time.

A desalination unit on board is used to process sea water to make it suitable for drinking and washing on the boat, but "luxuries" like fresh food and baths are at the forefront of their minds.

Mr Howard, from Bradfield, said: "We have not stopped thinking about when we get to dry land. We keep asking each other, 'what are you going to have first? What's going to be your first drink?'

"But our spirits are high, we are enjoying ourselves.

"We want to send on the message to everyone to get out of your comfort zone, and to raise as much money as we possibly can for our charities."

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