Major Pete Rowlands and Captain Mark Waterson, both from Long Riston, are expected to reach Falmouth on Saturday, bringing the curtain down on an epic 3,300-mile voyage almost three months after setting out from New York.
The lifelong friends, who a
long with team members Staff Sergeant Ben Fouracre, from Devon, and lAnce Corporal Charlie Martell, from Gloucestershire, are rowing under the name Team Hesco in memory of Maj Rowlands's 16-year-old son Gareth, who died from meningitis three years ago.
They will come in behind two other boats in the Shepherd Ocean Fours Rowing Race, but are still set to establish a record.
The first to cross the finishing line was crewed by an American university team, while another – also crewed by Yorkshire soldiers – arrived on
Saturday morning, but they had been towed in after crossing the finishing line at the Scilly Isles.
Campaign manager Adrian Bell said: "This voyage is an experience that will remain with these four men for the rest of their lives.
"One can only begin to imagine what it's like to be in a 29ft boat, with nowhere to hide, when you're facing winds of up to 50mph and waves the size of a house.
"As if this were not already challenging enough, the voyage has been made more difficult for them by the failure of their satellite communications system only four weeks into the voyage.
"Its loss was a real blow – not only could they no longer receive essential weather
information and storm warnings, but they also missed the motivational power of the
messages being sent by hundreds of supporters watching via the internet."
