World Records in the Atlantic Challenge

The World’s Toughest Row has seen the arrival in Antigua of a further five ocean rowing boats.

Amongst the recent arrivals were two boats setting world records. Frank Rothwell’s Atlantic Challenge for Alzheimer’s Research UK saw Frank Rothwell cross the finish line in a time of 64 days, 7 hours and 53 minutes.

Frank now has two Atlantic crossings under his belt and officially holds the World Record for being the oldest person to row solo across any ocean with a starting age of 73 years and 156 days.

Frank said: “There were times where I considered whether it was the right thing to do, but it’s not something you can turn your back on. Most other challenges you can stop and get on a bus - you can’t do that with this.

“I lost all my strength two days ago and I really wanted to be here and be reunited with my family. I learned how much I love my wife Judith, after 53 years of marriage. I called her twice a day, sometimes three times a day.”

Frank was raising funds and awareness for Alzheimer’s Research UK and has to date raised more than £250,000 - adding to the more than £1 million raised during his 2020/21 crossing.

Also arriving to set a new world record were the crew of ‘Never2Late’, Jim Ronaldson and Ian Davies, who crossed the finish line in a time of 66 days, 17 hours and 12 minutes arriving as this year’s 33rd boat. Crew ‘Never2Late’ lived up to its name by setting a new World Record (132 years and 48 days at the start) for being the oldest men’s pairs crew to row any ocean.

Sam Glover of Lynmouth, the only rower in the race from Devon, arrived on January 25. He was the first solo rower to arrive.