Buckingham men's incredible endurance challenge for Oli Hilsdon Foundation

Olly Collins, aged 31, and William Hole, 30, who both attended Akeley Wood School, have teamed up with friends Louis Cruysmans and Henry Putt to take on the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

It involves rowing 3,000 miles unaided non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean from La Gomera to Antigua, and the men are aiming to complete it in under 40 days.

Competing under the team name Atlantic Endeavoar, the team are looking to fundraise £150,000 for the national mental health charity Mind and local charity the Oli Hilsdon Foundation.

Oli Hilsdon, a friend of Olly and William and a former Royal Latin School student, died from a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumour in 2019, just before his 27th birthday.

The Oli Hilsdon Foundation was set up in his memory, to raise awareness into glioblastoma multiforme and fund research.

It was Olly Collins who came up with the idea of the charity challenge.

“It was a scheme that was hatched, like all great ideas, in the pub,” he said. "And we had to look around to see who else was crazy enough to think that was a good idea.”

Atlantic Endeavoar will set off from La Gomera on December 12 and finish in Antigua and are aiming to do the trip in 40 days, depending on conditions.

Team members typically each row two hours on, two hours off for the whole crossing.

"You don’t get masses of sleep,” said Olly.

“The two people that are rowing, are rowing. The two people that are not rowing, you have to do a lot of personal admin.

"We would obviously have to plot our course, and you have to then feed yourself.

“The boat that we’ve bought is almost completely hollow and it’s basically all full of food or ballast.

"You have to carry at least 6,000 calories per person per day just so that you don’t completely waste away, but on average people would lose about 8kg to 10kg during the crossing.”

Food consists of dehydrated ration packs and there is an electronic water maker on board.

“We’ve got a little gas heater so we can boil water to make cups of tea and to pour into ration packs so we can rehydrate food, and that’s what we would be eating – calorie-dense snacks basically, so we can get as much fuel into us as possible.

“People take quite incredibly unhealthy things. The guys that broke the world record actually took a lot of pork scratchings with them. ”

But before the team can even begin, they need to raise £100,000 just to get to the start line.

And for this, they’re hoping to attract sponsorship from local businesses.

The team have put together a pack for potential sponsors – contact them via www.atlanticendeavoar.com or email [email protected]