Hampshire firefighters complete 3,000-mile ocean crossing and raise almost £16,000 for charity

Stu Vince and Craig Sadler, who have both worked as firefighters in Cosham, crossed the finish line in Nelson’s Dockyard, Antigua and Barbuda, on February 14 having complete ‘the world’s toughest row’. They spent 64 days together at sea with only each others’ company. The pair undertook this year’s annual Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge under team name Minds Matter in aid of Solent Mind and The Fire Fighters Charity.

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Craig, who rowed the final stretch, said: ‘To be isolated for the best part of 65 days, you’re then suddenly in a harbour with hundreds, potentially thousands, of people with this craziness of flares and cannons going off. It’s a really well organised event but you are thrust from complete isolation into a media frenzy.

‘For me it was a confirmation of “am I who I think I am?”. All aspects of this challenge were out of my comfort zone. Physically, for the row, I wasn’t in bad nick for my age. Mentally, without any arrogance, I’m unbreakable so I knew I could do that. Emotionally, it was a reset button for me when I got back. I need to spend more time with my children, my mum and my dad and all of my good friends. That environment out there - you’re completely insignificant, you’re irrelevant, you’re in somebody else's world. All of that combined and the way that Stu interacts with me made a comfortable environment for me to share all of that with him.’

Stu had been planning the feat for many years as part of his ongoing mental health awareness campaign. Craig came on board last March after fellow firefighter Adam Bundle - who had spent three years training with Stu - decided to drop out. The duo trained in the Solent but found that this did not prepare them for the massive waves and stormy weather they faced during their ocean crossing. They faced sleep deprivation, 20ft waves, salt sores, huge calorie deficits, hallucinations, minimal shelter and homesickness. In one instance, their boat ‘Patience’ was attacked by a marlin which shook – and possibly damaged – the craft and left Craig with a hand injury.

Stu said: ‘It was a good 20 years ago that the idea first came into my head. Then, I was due to do it about 11 or 12 years ago but ended up giving a kidney away so the plug was pulled then. I had a breakdown in 2015 and I thought “you know what, now’s the time to do it”.

‘Steering a boat out there is very different to steering a boat in the Solent so I really struggled with it. Craig mastered it straight away so that was probably the first argument we had.

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‘The thing that I’m going to take away from it is “I don’t need to worry what people think of me. If something doesn’t get done, so what?”.’

The pair believe the have raised £25,000, accounting for other fundraising sources. Money raised will go to Solent Mind, which offers advice, information and support to those suffering and The Firefighters Charity, which supports members of the fire service community. They came in 38th place in the international race.