The Skandia Ocean Row Team has set off from St John's, Newfoundland, Canada, on its way to Falmouth to begin a record-breaking attempt to be the fastest rowing boat ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

If successful, the Skandia Ocean Row team will become the fastest ocean rowing team in history to complete an Atlantic crossing. This would entitle them to two entries in the Guinness Book of Records: 1) Fastest West-to-East trans-Atlantic row (crewed); and, 2) fastest trans-Atlantic row - overall (provided that they break all previous Atlantic rowing records).

The four man team, led by Poole-based fire fighter Mark Stubbs, aims to row West-to-East from Newfoundland, Canada, passing through the Isles of Scilly, and continuing on to Falmouth, Cornwall, in under 35 days, 21 days faster than any other team to row the same route.

Mark Stubbs, commented: "It's such a great feeling to finally begin the row after all the preparations. It will probably take the team a few days to get used to the rowing rota and navigate the first part of the row, but after that it should be pretty straightforward. I hope that the good weather will hold, and our crossing will be relatively uneventful!"

The first three days will probably be the most arduous part of the team's journey, due to strong currents around Newfoundland's Grand Banks. Once clear of the mainland, there will also be potential hazards in the form of icebergs and other, much larger, vessels.

Virtual updates will be available on: www.skandiaoceanrow.com and

www.bbc.co.uk/oceanrow

to those who are following the attempt.