Day 13 and the Oars of Thunder crew is leading their Mixed Class race. The crew of four from Looe Gig Rowing Club Kim Tolfrey, Sally Crabb, Nathaniel Rothwell and Harry Poulson and their Rannoch R45 aptly named Catch of the Day have covered 92 nautical miles in the last 24 hours and are lying in 11th place overall.

Conditions have been changeable say the organisers of the World’s Toughest Row, a once in a lifetime 3000 nautical mile challenge to row the Atlantic from the Canary Islands to Antigua.

Summing up the row so far a spokesperson said: “2024 stands out for two reasons: it marks the year when the fleet has traveled the farthest south for a race start and the year with the most Calima, dust and sand, from the Sahara. The sand is causing some power issues as panels are not able to fully charge all batteries.

“Our Safety Officers have made more than 500 calls to crews so far and it’s tough out there. The crews are safe, capable, and facing challenging conditions that, while daunting, will speed their journey to the finish. The log includes knockdowns, capsizes, broken oars, a lost daggerboard, power issues, accidental EPIRB activations, sore hands and bottoms.

“Conditions are fast, requiring crews to keep their boats positioned correctly while surfing the waves. For many teams, this is a period of less rowing, but conditions can change quickly, and suddenly it’s like rowing through mud, where every oar stroke counts.”

Updates from the Oars of Thunder crew are sporadic, said a spokesperson for the team, as they are only hearing from them infrequently with a phone call just once or twice a week.

He added: “However, the information we have is that they had to power down a few of their electronics as the solar panels onboard weren't able to produce as much electricity.

“All is all cleared now and everything is back up and running. They have a large storm coming in either tomorrow or the upcoming days.”

The group of four rowers from Looe Gig Rowing Club are raising funds for the RNLI and are currently at £1,575 of their £50,000 target. To donate to their fundraiser, go to: https://www.gofundme.com/f/oars-of-thunder-row-across-the-atlantic-for-rnli