Reuters

9 August 2004

Reporter -

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Four British rowers, rescued after a wave shattered their boat in the stormy Atlantic, say they hope to try again to set the record for the ocean crossing.

"I can't accept failure. For me it is unfinished business," said Peter Bray, 48, when he and other members of the crew of the "Pink Lady" came ashore in Ireland on Monday after the dramatic high seas rescue.

The crew said a freak wave whipped up by Hurricane Alex had destroyed their boat and tossed them into the raging sea where they clung to a life raft for six hours.

"It hit the ship like a missile," said Jonathan Gornall, 48, after the crew docked aboard a Danish cargo ship in western Ireland.

"The first sensation was of being crushed because... the whole roof had smashed down with the weight of this wave.

"We were under water and that's all I remember, just holding my breath and fighting and fighting to find the surface."

The crew praised the captain of the Danish ship "Reefer" who defied mountainous waves to manoeuvre his vessel next to the life raft 300 miles (482 km) west of the Isles of Scilly early on Sunday.

"They came alongside us in atrocious conditions, brought the boat alongside and enabled us to get from the life raft and up a ladder in rolling seas," said skipper Mark Stubbs, 40.

The men were attempting to make the 2,100-mile (3,379 km) west-east Atlantic crossing in 35 to 40 days and beat the current 55-day record, set in 1896 by two Norwegian fishermen.

The crew had been rowing for 39 days after setting off from Newfoundland, Canada in late June and were 300 miles from the finish.

A spokesman for the Shannon Foynes Port Company said the crew was expected to go directly to nearby Shannon airport and fly to Southampton.