A group of rowers, attempting to break a world record, have been rescued after their boat capsized in the Atlantic ocean.
Father-of-four Ian Rowe from Harrold was one of six crew members rowing across the ocean from Morrocco to Barbados when their vessel capsized.
The group were 27 days into their journey - trying to beat the 30 day record - when on Monday morning their boat called Sara G overturned in challenging conditions, 520 miles from their destination.
Mr Rowe's wife Lisa spoke of the agonising wait after hearing the news. She said: "Thank god they are all ok. For some reason their boat capsized and they tied themselves to life boats and waited for 15 hours."
Mrs Rowe said the boat automatically sends out a flare if it capsizes and luckily two boats were 10 hours away so one came to their rescue.
The other crew members are: Simon Brown - the brother of Bedford Modern School's director of rowing, the current world record-holding skipper Matt Craughwell (who completed the trip in 33 days last year), round-the- world cyclist Mark Beaumont and Arctic-rower Yaacov Mutnikas.
Coastguards in Falmouth, Cornwall, said the rowers were picked up from the raft, which they had lashed to the hull of their overturned boat, at 1.10am on Tuesday morning by the Nord Taipei, a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship.
A coastguard spokesman added: "They are all safe and well on board and proceeding to Gibraltar, where they are due to arrive on February 9."
Falmouth Coastguard co-ordinated the rescue with authorities in Martinique. A second vessel, the Naparima, was also due to reach the overturned boat's location by 4.30am, but was released after the rowers' rescue.
