The men have been beset by storms and gigantic icebergs

Captain Mark Stubbs, from Dorset, and his crew set off 22 days ago and have now clocked up more than 1,100 miles.

Earlier this week they were forced to row 45 miles out of their way to avoid heavy storms in their boat Pink Lady.

The oarsmen are aiming to smash the 55-day record for the 2,100 mile crossing from west to east, set in 1896.

The crew hope to raise �50,000 for the British Heart Foundation.

They are Mr Stubbs, 40, a firefighter from Poole, ex-SAS diver Peter Bray, 48, from Bridgend, south Wales, Jonathan Gornall, 48, a journalist from London, and digital mapping specialist John Wills, 33, from Farnham in Surrey.

Having rowed unassisted for 23 days, they now have to reach Bishop's Rock, off the Isles of Scilly by 23 August, in order to break the world record.

The captain's daily log for Saturday said: "The air temperature is 23 degrees and the visibility sparkling.

The transatlantic team may be the first to reach the British mainland

"Morale is sky high on Pink Lady and this has been boosted by good weather and the sight of tuna and dolphins leaping close by."

Since setting off from St John's in Newfoundland on 30 June, they have braved raging storms and icebergs as big as mountains.

The current east-west Atlantic rowing record is held by an 11-man French crew, which in 1992 rowed from the Canary Islands to Martinique in the West Indies in 35 days and 8 hours.