Buckingham rowers past half way in wet and windy Atlantic crossing for charity

As you were tucking into your Christmas dinner, two Buckingham men were battling the elements and equipment malfunctions in a small rowing boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Olly Collins and William Hole, who both attended Akeley Wood School, along with friends Louis Cruysmans and Henry Putt, are rowing 3,000 miles unaided non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean as they compete in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

Competing under the team name Atlantic Endeavoar, the four men 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 student, died from a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumour in 2019, just before his 27th birthday. The foundation was set up in his memory, to raise awareness into glioblastoma multiforme and fund research.

Atlantic Endeavoar set off from La Gomera in the Canaries on December 12 and has now passed the halfway point. The team is expecting to arrive in Antigua by January 14/15, depending on conditions.

Team members typically each row two hours on, two hours off for the whole crossing, and their journey began with favourable weather.

But problems started in the second week, with damage to the rudder system and power shortages, which meant hand steering through the night with only the stars to guide them, and desalinating water manually using a hand pump.

On Christmas Day, the friends passed round presents and tucked into treats they’d stowed away for the occasion, including Coca-Cola, Lindt chocolate and Percy Pigs.

Week three was dominated by five days of high winds and regular downpours – which did help them achieve substantial distances each day but left them constantly wet and mentally drained.From Christmas night, the trade winds picked up in a big way, regularly blowing at 20-25 knots, generating waves of up to 10m, accompanied by torrential downpours that left them soaked.

But with under 1,000 nautical miles to go, the men are continuing to work well as a team and aiming to get to the finish line in Antigua safely and as quickly as possible – where a big support group will await them.