Sexes join forces to battle Atlantic with rowing challenge

Roz Savage, 44, and Andrew Morris, 48, are aiming to be the first mixed-gender team to make the journey from the iceberg-infested waters of St John’s, Newfoundland, in Canada to the Bristol Channel, before joining the River Thames to row into London.

The pair will spend eight weeks battling the elements in the 24-foot rowing boat Bojangles, taking it in turns to row and sleep for two hours at a time.

Ms Savage, who holds four world records as a solo rower, is due to take the first stint of the 2,000-mile journey, charting a course due east as they head for Bristol.

They hope to set off some time after May 7, depending on weather conditions, and are aiming to arrive in London in early July, before the start of the Olympics.

Ms Savage said: “I am very conscious that of the six rowers that have died at sea, five have died on this route, so safety is key.”

Ms Savage’s clergyman father died eight years ago but she says her 73-year-old mother Rita, from Leeds, is a “core member of the team” who will be cheering on the pair when they reach Bristol.

Ms Savage, from Cheshire, and businessman Mr Morris, from Nottinghamshire, hope the OAR Project, will raise the profile of two charity initiatives.

The first is to raise money to buy a fleet of rowing boats for able-bodied and disabled young people, and the second is to support the British charity Plastic Oceans, which is dedicated to fighting plastic pollution worldwide.