Charlie Pitcher breaks solo rowing ocean record

Mr Pitcher left La Gomera on his 3,000-mile (4,800km) journey on February 6

A 50-year-old adventurer has broken the record for rowing solo across the Atlantic.

Charlie Pitcher, from Felstead in Essex, arrived at Port St Charles, Barbados, at 13:38 local time, according to his Twitter feed.

Mr Pitcher left La Gomera on his 3,000-mile (4,800km) journey on February 6 in the hope of breaking the 40-day record.

Sunburnt and tired, but back on dry land for the first time in 35 days

He completed the voyage in just 35 days in the carbon-hulled, 6.5m (21ft) Soma of Essex.

When he previously rowed across the Atlantic - in the 2010 Woodvale Challenge - the journey took him 52 days, 10 of which were spent going backwards.

Before setting off, Mr Pitcher told BBC News how he had thousands of songs on board to listen to, including tracks by ABBA.

Each day he has had to eat about 7,000 calories and make his own drinking water from the ocean.

Describing his journey, Mr Pitcher blogged on Tuesday: "I have never felt in danger of my life, but have felt that things could go very wrong on a few occasions early on in the rough weather and the dreaded day 18 when I have never been so sick in my life."