London Policemen Determined to Smash Atlantic Rowing Race Record

FOUR MET POLICE OFFICERS TAKE ON THE ATLANTIC OCEAN IN A ROWING BOAT TO RAISE FUNDS FOR CF

Four Met Police officers are hoping to row across the Atlantic in record time this winter. The adventurous team are leaving their families behind for Christmas to row over 2,500 nautical miles from La Gomera in Tenerife to Antigua in the West Indies as part of the 2007 Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race.

The team, who are taking on the same challenge completed by Ben Fogle and James Cracknell in 2005, consists of Andy Ehrhart and Mark Hefford from West Wickham, Nick Young from Caterham and Justin Ellis from Croydon. They are all police officers at the Metropolitan Police Specialist Training Centre in Gravesend and are taking part to raise vital funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust because Andy's 12 year old son Oliver has Cystic Fibrosis (CF), the UK's most common, life-threatening inherited disease.

The Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race began in 1997 and to date over 190 people have completed this mental and physical test of endurance. Andy and his team hope they can beat the current record of 39 days to cross the finish line. He said "We're determined to beat the record and raise as much money as possible to fund research to treat and cure CF. We've raised over £50,000 so far and hope to reach our target of £75,000. We've taken part in lots of endurance challenges together but this is going to be a life changing experience. More people by far have climbed Everest than have successfully rowed an ocean in a rowing boat."

You can find out more and sponsor the team at 4Row Website. The team leaves on the 2 December and all money they raise will help fund gene therapy research, which hopes to stop CF from claiming so many young lives. It will also help provide support, advice and appropriate clinical care to the 8,000 babies, children and young adults with Cystic Fibrosis in the UK.

Sunseeker London are the main sponsors for the team, but without the additional sponsorship of KBC Peel Hunt, Ann Summers, Mayflower Bathrooms, Peterborough United Football Club and assistance from local businesses and community the project would have failed.