Artemis rowing crew smashes transatlantic record

Four rowers have smashed a 114-year-old record by crossing the Atlantic in 43 days, 21 hours and 26 minutes.

The Artemis North Atlantic Rowing Challenge crew left New York on 17 June and touched the quayside at St Mary's, in the Isles of Scilly, just before 1500 BST on Saturday.

Skipper Leven Brown said it had been a "pell-mell, helter-skelter" trip.

In 1896 Norwegians George Harbo and Frank Samuelson had set the record at 55 days and 13 hours.

'Wobbly legs'

"It's been absolutely amazing and what a reception [we have had] here in the Scillies," 37-year-old Mr Brown, from Edinburgh, said.

"The funniest thing for me was walking up the quayside - after more than six weeks of not walking, my legs felt more than a bit unsteady."

During the record attempt, the crew survived 33ft-high (10m) waves, encountered whales and rescued a man overboard.

Two years ago, an attempt by a crew called The Scilly Boys nearly ended in disaster when their vessel capsized, 13 days after leaving New York.

Norwegian Americans George Harbo and Frank Samuelson set the previous record in 1896

It is the Artemis crew's second attempt after a broken rudder at the beginning of June forced them to retire.

Rowing with the skipper were Ray Carroll, 33, from Galway in the Irish Republic, Don Lennox, 41, from Lanarkshire, and 39-year-old Livar Nysted, from the Faroe Islands.

As the crew approached the final stretch, Mr Carroll said conditions were "testing" with tidal currents and squalls.

For the past two weeks the crew had been surviving on powdered supplements after running out of food, so all four said they were looking forward to "solid food".