Victory splash for ocean rowers

The rowers arrived in Antigua on Sunday

A family rowing team from Devon has finished a gruelling transatlantic race, more than 800 nautical miles (920 miles) ahead of their nearest rivals.

The four brothers and cousins, from Beer, crossed the finishing line in the West Indies at 1535 GMT on Sunday in their craft, All Relative.

They set off on 30 November to row from the Canary Islands to reach Antigua.

Exmouth RNLI members James Green, 24, and Justin Adkin, 26, teamed up with Robert Adkin, 23, and Martin Adkin, 19.

Demanding pace

The event is one of the world's toughest nautical challenges, but the All Relative team set a demanding pace covering up to 116 nautical miles (133 miles) a day from the start.

As well as easily winning the race, Martin has secured himself a place in the record books by becoming the youngest person to row across the Atlantic.

Justin Adkin, RNLI volunteer crewman at Exmouth and the builder of All Relative, said after crossing the line: "Now we have stepped on to dry land we are all a bit uneasy on our legs and keep bumping into each other.

"But we are amazed by the reception here in Antigua, there has been a huge welcome, it really is incredible.

The Beer boys, clockwise from top left: Martin Adkin, Robert Adkin, James Green, and Justin Adkin

"One of the boats waiting to greet us on the finish line was full of our friends and family.

"We made an impressive arrival, surfing down one wave at eight knots just before the finish line. We are now about to be officially welcomed by Antigua's Minister of Tourism."

Kevin Riley, RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager at Exmouth, said: "This is a magnificent triumph for the boys, for Exmouth lifeboat station and for the whole RNLI.

"We place a big emphasis on training our volunteer crews to a high level in many areas, including navigation, sea survival and first aid.

"I'm sure Justin and James will have used many of these skills to achieve this amazing result.

"They are an example to us all and I am proud to know they are a part of our life saving crew at Exmouth."