ROWING: RUNCORN'S heroic rowers Jason McKinlay and Phil Carrington have crossed the finishing line in an amazing fourth place after a gruelling 50 days on the Atlantic.
A year ago, the duo had never rowed before but after a month-and-a-half at sea they became the first British boat to complete the Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race at 10.50pm on Tuesday night.
Now the pair can expect a heroes' welcome when they return to their home town in the next fortnight.
On Tuesday Jason and Phil caught their first glimpse of land since setting off from La Gomera and Lanzarotte when they spotted the coast of Barbados.
However, it was a long and hard final battle for the pair on their final approach to the finish as they battled through Monday night to stay on course in rough seas.
In the last seven days, they have rowed more than 400 nautical miles after weeks at sea, snatching sleep and food and water when able.
It took them 10 hours to row the final eight nautical miles before docking at Port St Charles late on Tuesday night.
The result was a triumph for Jason and Phil who hope to have raised thousands for McMillan Cancer Relief.
The rowing novices finished well ahead of the 15-strong compliment of teams in their boat which they assembled from a flat-pack kit.
Before being allowed to compete, Jason and Phil had to raise £60,000 to earn their place in the starting line-up.
The pair rowed through shark-infested waters and extreme weather conditions to beat more experienced teams to the finishing line.
They have experienced problems after being blown off course and had to survive on just five litres of water per day between them when their water maker developed a fault.
Now they will be looking forward to returning to Runcorn in triumph.
