About Cornwall

The Transatlantic challenge may not be until June this year, but the intrepid rowers from the Isles of Scilly are already training hard for their attempt at breaking a world record.

The crew will be taking to the sea in June

The men from St Mary's have entered the 2008 Transatlantic Rowing Race from New York to the Bishop Rock Lighthouse. They are aiming to beat the record of 55 days 13 hours. They will be the only team who will actually be rowing towards home, although Cornwall is hundreds of miles away from the starting line in New York!

BBC Radio Cornwall's James Churchfield caught up with one of the crew members. Click on the link below to hear the audio:

The team are busy following a tough fitness regime, but recently they've had to manage without their 29-foot boat, which has been on the mainland for essential work.

The boat will not only be the rower's home for the voyage but it will carry all their journey needs, including food and water. 

The boat that will be used in the challenge

"We had to send the boat away for a foot steering system to be fitted and for the completion of the vital water making plant that we need to have onboard," explains crew member Chris Jenkins.

"Then we need to get her back to the Isles of Scilly so we can really start practicing before she leaves us again to be shipped off to New York for the start of the race on the first of June."

Nutritionist experts predict each of the four rowers will burn 10,000 calories a day, so to keep them on peak form, 1,500 specially prepared meals will be carried and the water supplemented with an onboard water maker.

Each rower is expected to row two hours on, two hours off, 24/7, so physical and mental preparation is essential.

Training in the Cornish sea

It will come as no surprise to learn that this is one of the world's toughest challenges; ocean rowing has recently become popular.

The event is organised by Woodvale Challenge who also plan The Mid Atlantic race from the Canary Islands to Antigua and The Indian Ocean Race from Australia to Mauritius. The New York to Scilly event will take place every two years.

The Cornish rowers will be raising funds for four charities; the RNLI's Train One, Save Many crew training appeal, the Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust, Above and Beyond – Enhancing Bristol’s Special Care Baby Unit and Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

For more information about their challenge, click on the link below: