Following the huge success of their Children In Need 24 hour row-a-thon, the University of Plymouth Rowing Club (UPRC) decided to take things to a whole new level with their most recent charity endeavor. The challenge? To beat a ferry traveling 119 miles from Roscoff, France to Plymouth, England, doing so on two rowing machines whilst aboard the ferry itself. They set out to raise at least £1000 for The Stroke Association with money being collected on the ferry, by campaigners back at the university and via their JustGiving page.

The group was made up of thirteen members of the rowing club with ages ranging from 18-24; organiser Dan Hanratty and the twelve rowers who were taking on the challenge - Matthias Boerrnert, Max Clayton, Adam Huxtable, Mike Lee, Harry Newton, David 'Dave' Ord, James 'Plummers' Plumley, Tom 'Duracell' Rainey, Tom Webb, Ollie Werby, Tom Willis and Freddie Wright. The challenge though arguably started from the moment the men stepped onto the ferry from Plymouth to Roscoff on Saturday night. Having carried the rowing machines through customs followed by finding where they'd be sleeping for the eight hour journey, they decided to relax ahead of what they knew was going to be an incredibly long, hard day. However, whilst setting up the machines on the ferry for the following day and giving them a quick test run, it soon became apparent that the row was going to be a lot harder than previously anticipated. The constant movement of the boat did nothing but make rowing more difficult and more sickly. With this now on their minds, they called it a night.

Unfortunately, the average time of sleep each rower got was about four hours, if that. Again, the rocking of the boat had caused problems; Tom Webb rolled into a chair and slammed his head against it whilst asleep, as well as a couple of members of the team suffering quite badly from seasickness during the night.

Disembarking in Roscoff at 8:00am (French time), the group now faced a seven hour wait until the return journey. Splitting into two groups, they passed the time by playing pool, doing their own interpretation of the long-jump on the local beach and doing a bit of food shopping for the way back. They were in high spirits throughout their wait in Roscoff, not once speaking negatively about the task they were up against in a few hours time.

The team met up at the docks at around 1:15pm, still unable to embark upon the ferry until at least 2:15pm. It whilst waiting that they did the final calculations to work out how quickly they would each have to row to beat the ferry. Having done the maths, they realised they would each need to row about ten lots of five minute stints each with twenty-five minute intervals between each stint.

Time to board.

Even walking up the tunnel to the ferry, the optimism and excitement was oozing from all of them and was there for everyone to see.

Having set up camp near the lobby of the ferry, the group donned their lycra and 'stroke4stroke' t-shirts. Adopted mascot Pierre the Bear even took it upon himself to support the event by wearing the same attire; the t-shirt, not the lycra. Announcements from the crew then starting to ring out all over the ferry about the challenge and people were already taking a huge interest, even before the race had begun. Despite all the attention though, the group knew what they were there to do and never made it anything less than a top priority.

With the rowing machines ready, the computers set up and the collection buckets in place, the race began. Dave and Harry were up first, with Dave saying after his stint "you can definitely feel it rocking", going on to describe it simply as "mental". Mike and Tom Webb, who was rowing with two broken fingers and a broken knuckle, were up second, both feeling the effects of the 3m swells the boat was experiencing. Mike finished his stint by telling us "I feel sick". Perfectly understandable, considering the conditions. Adam and Duracell, rowing with a damaged tendon in his finger, were up next, both managing distances consistent with those the previous rowers had managed. After these difficult first fifteen minutes, they received the good news from Dan over at the computers that they were 1000m ahead of the average they'd set themselves. This kept spirits alive, as Tom Willis, Max, Matthias, Freddie, Ollie and Plummers, who was rowing with badly damaged arm muscles, all put in brilliant times.

The interest from the passengers on the ferry was vast and very positive, as the sound of coins dropping into the buckets sparked "thank you" from each of the rowers every few minutes. The encouragement helped everyone through more and more stints as the conditions continued to worsen. Tom Webb admitted that he "never knew you would be able to feel the waves that bad" whilst Freddie got straight to the point, saying "It's the rocking that gets you". Adam, however, suggested that he was "getting used to it" whilst Mike confessed that he found it "easier with my eyes shut".

After an hour and twenty minutes of the race and having realised they'd already covered the distance from Dover to Calais, the rowers were told how far the ferry had travelled and immediately worked out exactly how far they'd travelled themselves....the rowers were 1.4 miles ahead. And counting. Their incredible work effort began to show more and more as Mike and Dave collapsed off their machines whilst Ollie was sick after his third stint. Duracell, however, decides that his stint is a good time to start singing, much to the amusement of the rest of his teammates. Both Toms, Webb and Willis, tell how the twenty-five minute intervals fly by, whereas the five minute stint drags on and on, whilst Matthias tells how his times are improving and that he is looking to maintain that.

The announcement that the team are at the halfway point is met with mixed reactions, with Mike and Max instantly realising they had to repeat what they'd already done. Dave lifts spirits however, with an inspirational pep talk that gets everyone smiling again. This sees the average time they set themsevles become almost irrelevant, as they notice that they are 10k ahead of it. Tom Willis's groans can be heard throughout the lobby as he wins the battle against his body telling him to stop.

With two hours passed, the team find out they are a massive six miles ahead. This news sees Max up his tempo and demolish the last minute of his sixth stint; an act which alone inspires the entire team and everyone watching. The topic of the conversation though, remains to be the difficulty of what they're doing. There is simply no getting away from it.

But, as the sun begins to set out of the window nearby, everyone begins to realise that they have one go left each; a much welcomed realisation. As word spreads around the ferry that they team are closing in on the finish, a crowd begins to gather and tensions start to rise as everyone realizes just how close they are to finishing this mammoth task.

Ollie, Dave, Harry, Mike, Tom Webb, Adam, Duracell, Tom Willis, Max, Matthias and Freddie all saw out their last stints, pushing through the pain painted across their faces whilst being cheered on by each other and everyone around. Then it fell to Plummers, who had been having doubts about whether or not he could actually take part due to his inability to straighten his arms because of injury, to finish the race. However, after some intense physio from Mike throughout the day, he had gotten better and better and climbed aboard for his, and the team's, last stint.

He was unbelievable during the final few-hundred metres. He put in a split of 1m 21s; 44 seconds quicker than the average agreed upon before the race began. And his triumphant effort ultimately saw UPRC across the line and erupt into scenes of jubilation and applause from everyone involved and watching.

Despite the fact they had hardly slept, suffered illness, had various injuries and were, at times, literally crawling away from the machine after their stint, the University of Plymouth Rowing Club beat the Brittany Ferry...by an hour and a half. They rowed for more than four hours and raised €246.76 and £115 on the boat, as well as £143 back on campus, to add to their online figure of £691.00. Overall, they'd smashed their £1000 target and they truly deserve all the plaudits that come their way.

The team expressed deep gratitude to the captain of the ferry, the incredibly welcoming and polite staff as well as Brittany Ferries themselves for allowing them to do their challenge and for giving them a great race. They also want to thank everyone who supported them throughout the challenge, both on the ferry and back in Plymouth. It helped them massively and ultimately raised just over £1000 for The Stroke Association. The team would also like to thank the Cattewater Harbour Commissioners for their incredibly generous £250 donation, Concept2 for donating the software and the monitors and Nick Smith at Newsworthy Vision Limited for supplying cameras to document the event.

Also, a special mention for the organiser of the event, Dan Hanratty. None of this could've happened if it weren't for him as he made sure everything happened without a hitch across the weekend and during the weeks leading up to it. He did a great job and the entire team knows it.

Well done men, well done.

If you too have been inspired by this story, then please contribute to the cause at JustGiving. Thank you.

Report by Matthew Ord