Devon rower aims to break record

David Brooks hopes to race between Perth and Mauritius in April 2009

A Devon man is hoping to become the youngest person ever to row the Indian Ocean unaided.

David Brooks, a 22 year-old Geography student at Birmingham University, is hoping to raise £20,000 for Guide Dogs for the Blind in the process.

"I hope to complete the race during my gap year," Brooks, who is a kayaker from the Teign Valley, told BBC Sport.

Brooks needs to raise £50,000 in sponsorship for the race between Perth in Australia and Mauritius in 2009.

He needs the money to fund his special 19-foot long ocean going racing boat and all his supplies for the 3100 mile trip, which he hopes to complete in under 100 days.

Brooks is more used to kayaking down rivers than rowing oceans

As a kayaker Brooks is used to being on the water, but rowing an ocean will be a completely different experience to paddling down rivers.

"I have a love for oceanography through my studies at university," he said.

Another Devon man holds the record for the youngest person to row the Indian Ocean, according to the Ocean Rowing Society's website.

Simon Chalk was 30 when he made the crossing between February and June 2003.