THE Oars of Thunder team from Looe have begun a gruelling 3,000 nautical mile race this morning (Wednesday, December 11).

Crew of Kim Tolfrey, Sally Crabb, Nathaniel Rothwell and Harry Poulson set today from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to cheers and applause.

They now begin 40 days of non-stop rowing, eating and sleeping in two-hour stints across the Atlantic ocean to Antigua in the Caribbean.

Their boat, a Rannoch R45 aptly named Catch of the Day is all equipped for everything an ocean crossing can throw at them. They have been completing sea trials for the last week.

The crew of four from Looe have put their boat aptly named Catch of the Day through its paces ahead of the world's toughest rowing challenge. (Picture: Oars of Thunder)
The crew of four from Looe put their boat aptly named Catch of the Day through its paces ahead of the world's toughest rowing challenge. (Picture: Oars of Thunder) ( )

The team of four all hail from the Looe area and are all members of Looe Gig Rowing Club. A spokesperson for the Club said: “Harry, Kim, Nat and Sally are competing as a mixed four raising funds for the RNLI by rowing 3000 miles across the Atlantic from La Gomera to Antigua.

“The journey will push their limits in both body and mind and be a true test of courage, resilience and character. Each of them will be rowing on shifts of 2hrs on 2hrs off, during which time they need to eat, sleep, wash, row, repeat.

“It has been three years of meticulous planning to get them to the start line.

“Please get behind them as the team take on this incredible challenge.

“Fundraising is still very much in full swing and you can donate by finding their go fund me page as below: www.gofundme.com/f/oars-of-thunder-row-across-the-atlantic-for-rnli

“We are all immensely proud of them and cannot wait their stories of this incredible adventure when they return home.”

The Cornish Times will be keeping up to date with progress of the Oars of Thunder team as they make their way across the Atlantic in this challenge of a lifetime. Keep up to date with our Live Blog below: