Bristol doctor rows around British Isles for charity

Bristol's Nick Dennison set a world record for rowing around Great Britain

An Army doctor from Bristol has spoken of the teamwork needed to set a new world record for rowing non-stop around Britain.

Captain Nick Dennison of the Royal Army Medical Corps, who grew up in Redland, rowed alongside Captain Hamish Reid.

The difficult challenge took 50 days and five hours to complete.

The dynamic duo left Lymington in Hampshire on 12 May in their 24 foot ocean going rowing boat, Komale.

They crossed the finish line on the Solent on 1 July, some 2,100 miles later.

It's estimated that Bristolian Nick and Hamish have raised around £20,000 for charities Help for Heroes and The Army Benevolent Fund.

They battled high seas, fierce winds and strong tides on the journey, although Nick admits that it could have been a lot worse.

"We were genuinely lucky with the weather even though at the time I don't think we felt like we were," he said.

"The biggest seas that we got were probably about seven or eight metres swell in the North Sea.

"That was quite a challenge to contend with."

And Nick said that conditions were difficult in the boat as well.

"We really mixed it up," he said.

"Sometimes the wind and the tide were such that you couldn't make progress with one person rowing, so we had to row together.

"Especially the last five days, which were pretty gritty.

"We had to row together for the majority of that time - usually six hours out of seven.

"So, you might get half an hour off to get a bit of food down you and a bit of rest and then get back on the oars again."

Bristol's Nick Dennison set a world record for rowing around Great Britain

Nick and Hamish were unable to get off the boat once they had left Lymington and had to take everything with them for their journey.

"We did it unsupported and continuous," added Nick.

"We carried 60 days worth of food with us and had a special desalination machine to make our own water.

"We had everything on board and we couldn't get off during that time, [so] we kept going."

The "real challenge" of the project however, according to Nick was spending so long in just one person's company.

"There's only two of you in the team, so you've just got to rely on each other for everything," he added.

"Be it taking care of him at 2am when he's just come off the oars - you need to get him some food, so it's complete teamwork.

"Without him, I couldn't have done it and it works the other way round.

"You've got to look after each other - there's only two of us; a real team effort."