Sport Review

But for one Jersey man he’s not only completed the challenge – he was part of the winning team.

Robbie Grant was part of a four-man team and one of 25 boats entered into the Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race.

After leaving the Canary Islands in December Team Pura Vida crossed the finish line nearly 3,000 miles away in Antigua over a day ahead of the next boat.

Their winning achievement is the culmination of 18 months hard work from the planning stage through to the 48 days spent rowing at sea.

With sponsors to find, boats to build, and hours of training to undertake some of the teams find just getting to the start line the greatest challenge.

“Once you get going it’s really just a matter of plodding on”, explained Grant. 

The four men rowed in pairs for consecutive shifts of two hours for nearly 50 days, facing not only the elements but the mental and physical challenge of the race.

“I’ve got to say it’s great fun to have won it,” he said. “We didn’t expect that when we set out - so it’s been an added bonus on top of the fact we actually made it across.”

Originally entering the race as part of a pair Grant was forced to switch to a solo entry when his partner was unable to race, a concept that he admits he “wasn’t that keen on”.

Luckily a mutual friend put Grant in touch with Tom Harvey who just happened to need a fourth rower for his team, and the rest, as they say, is a 2,800 mile history.

The rowers struggled with “incredibly unfavourable conditions” during the race and had hoped to finish five or ten days earlier than they actually did.

Despite the delay the winning team were given an “overwhelming” welcome by family and friends waiting in Antigua, complete with Caribbean brass band.

Grant is no stranger to taking part in extreme physical challenges as he’s previously run the gruelling Marathon des Sables - a 150 mile race across the Sahara Desert.

But will he be rowing across the Atlantic again?

“I’d never say never”, he replied, “but right now you couldn’t get me back on that rowing boat for all the treasure in the Caribbean.”

Grant has become the seventh Jersey person to row across the Atlantic and it doesn’t look like he’ll be the last – Jersey ladies Sarah Medland and Kiley Trehoral-Daley have already entered the 2009 event.