Hamble rower and team back on land after Atlantic crossing

A rower has said it is “absolutely incredible” to be back on land after returning from a world-record attempt across the Atlantic Ocean.

Jack Jarvis, from Hamble in Hampshire, and his team, United We Conquer, made of rowers David Bruce, Sam Edwards and Adam Radcliffe, returned to Hampshire earlier, after a 3,500-mile (5,630 km) journey from New York.

Their challenge has raised £100,000 for Head Up, a mental health charity for the UK armed forces community.

Jarvis is hoping for confirmation the team has beaten the official record for distance rowed in 24 hours, which is currently 116.76 nautical miles (134.37 miles /216.24 km).

He said: “After living off five hours sleep a day, rowing 12 hours, dehydrated, hungry, to be back on land, seeing all my friends and family is absolutely incredible.”

Jarvis already holds the world record for being the first person to row single-handed across the Atlantic from mainland Europe to mainland North America non-stop, which he achieved in 111 days, 12 hours and 22 minutes.

The team aimed to break the 43-day world record for the North Atlantic route.

He said the journey had posed some risks.

“We had a capsize, we had an electrical fire, so pretty much everything that could go wrong, went wrong,” Jarvis said.

“But I have a strong team and we were able to finish, you know, we were able to finish what we started.”

The rowers were met by a crowd of supporters at Hamble, including Jarvis’s mother, Debs Rolfe.

He described it as a “real amazing turnout” and said “a massive thank you to my hometown Hamble and everyone that’s come down from further afield”.