31 days at sea and the Oars of Thunder team have just 780 miles to go to complete the World’s Toughest Row.

The team of four from Looe Gig Rowing Club, Nathaniel Rothwell, Sally Crab, Kim Tolfrey and Harry Poulson have rowed over 2088 nautical miles and are currently leading in their Mixed class, sixth in the four-man boat class and seventh overall in the fleet.

Organisers of the challenge report unexpected slower conditions in the second half of the race which is usually more predictable in terms of speed. The fleet is now widely spread, with a distance of approximately 1,140 nautical miles separating the lead boat from the last boat.

Oars of Thunder chose a more southerly route in the first half of the race which is now paying off for the larger teams, with over 1000 nautical miles separating the front of the fleet from the back. (Picture: World's Toughest Row)
Oars of Thunder chose a more southerly route in the first half of the race which is now paying off for the larger teams, with over 1000 nautical miles separating the front of the fleet from the back. (Picture: World's Toughest Row) ( )

Over the last two weeks, the crew of Looe boat Catch of the Day, a Rannoch 45, have endured stormy weather, fatigue and strong winds but also took part in the rescue of a turtle along the way.

They came to the aid of the creature which had got tangled up in fishing nets on December 30, carefully unpicking the turtle from a vast amount of ropes and setting it free with a gentle pat on the shell, watching it paddle off.

Following the New Year’s Day tradition in Looe, crew member Nathaniel, a volunteer with the Looe lifeboat took a dip in the sea to welcome in the new year donning green budgie smugglers while firmly attached to the boat.

A message from the crew on Christmas morning showed them celebrating the festive season on the open ocean one thousand miles into their journey to the finish at Nelson's Dockyard, English Harbour, Antiqua. Currently their ETA with the finish line is January 22 or 23.

While completing the challenge the team are also raising money for the RNLI with the gofundme total currently standing at £2,240 of the £50,000 target.