A pair of British men have rowed over 3,000 miles in just 60 days to set a world record crossing of the Atlantic.
As Ocean rowers, Chris Walters and Elliott Dale, set foot on the quay steps at St Marys Harbour on the Isles of Scilly on Wednesday morning they set a new world record for crossing the Atlantic in a modern 'open class' pairs boat.
The intrepid duo rowed 3246 miles from New York to the Isles of Scilly over the last 60 days, raising money for Children's Hospice South West (CHSW) and have now set a new modern record for this journey.
They are only the second pairs rowing team ever to cross the Atlantic on the difficult route.In their Rannoch pairs boat, Row 4 Precious Lives, the duo have battled atrocious weather conditions to arrive at St Mary's in the Isles of Scilly at 10.34am - an incredible 60 days and six minutes at sea.
The rowers were joined on their final few miles into the harbour by a flotilla of local boats including amongst others the St Marys lifeboat and a gig.
Once in sight of the harbour they were serenaded in by Frank Sinatra's 'New York'. Greeted first by Dale Clark the Harbour Master and then by family members, the project team, staff and trustees from Children's Hospice South West as well as crowds of spectators.
After a diet of freeze-dried Spaghetti Bolognese and recycled water, the record breaking pair are looking forward to reuniting with family members and being able to enjoy their home comforts once more and Chris said: "This has undoubtedly been one of our toughest challenges yet.
"We've had it all.
"Horrendous weather conditions, near misses with sharks, whales and ships, and blisters like you wouldn't believe.
"Yet if we can help the families of life-limited children in the South West as a result, it has all been worth it.
"When we were at our lowest moments thinking of these families was all we needed to spur us on"
Alana Marie Smith, Director of Fundraising at Children's Hospice South West said on their return: "Thank you so much to Chris and Elliott for completing this amazing challenge.
"After all the months of preparation and then the nail-biting moments when we were glued to your progress it is such a relief and a great honour to welcome you back home."
The Precious Lives Atlantic Challenge has raised over £110,000 for CHSW so far and the charity hopes that the total funds raised will eventually reach £300,000.
Chris and Elliott set off from New York on June 7 to break the historic rowing record set by George Harbo and Frank Samuelson who crossed the Atlantic in just 55 days in 1896.
Unfortunately adverse weather conditions meant that Chris and Elliott missed out on breaking this record by just five days.
The men rowed in two-hour shifts through the nights and sharing the duties hourly during the day.
But they were frustrated by the weather, spending around eight days at sea anchor because of poor conditions.
The men attempted to break the 1896 record set by Norwegians Samuelson and Harbo but independent observer Jim Cameron says the Bitish men set a new record for an unaided crossing.
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