Mayfield rower Mark Delstanche crosses the Atlantic

Mark Delstanche celebrated his 47th birthday in the middle of the Atlantic

A rower who has crossed the Atlantic in a solo voyage says he "feels great", despite capsizing seven times.

Mark Delstanche from East Sussex, is rowing from New York to London, with his team claiming he will be the first person to complete the challenge.

He has reached the Cornish coast, but is being forced to wait in St Mawes for favourable winds.

The 47-year-old said he had experienced some "wonderful" moments, but early on in the voyage it was "terrible".

He said:"I was in thick fog and I hadn't discussed any of my fears with anyone beforehand. I found myself in a very dark place.

"There were some big storms. I had seven capsizes and eight major storms.

"It was either blowing a gale or it was blowing in the wrong direction. It was tough, it was very tough."

Mark Delstanche trained for his Atlantic row on Bewl Water in East Sussex

Mr Delstanche set off from New York on 13 June in his 7m (23 ft) boat carrying about 200kg of food.

He said he was almost rammed by a humpback whale, which surfaced 15m from the boat and was going straight for him.

"It went 2m under the boat and and came up about 30m away with a calf," he said.

"It was a wonderful experience."

Mark Delstanche arrived in St Mawes in Cornwal early on Monday morning

Mr Delstanche, from the village of Mayfield, said the journey had pushed him "to the absolute limit".

He arrived at St Mawes early on Monday morning.

"Words can't being to describe how happy and relieved I am to be here," he posted on Facebook.

He said as soon as the winds changed, he would continue his journey.

"I can be back in London in 10 to 14 days," he added.

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