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Home leg for Royal Navy team as they pass 1,500-mile mark in Atlantic rowing race
5 January 2026
Four Navy sailors have passed the 1,500-mile mark in their bid to cross the Atlantic on the ‘world’s toughest row’.
After 22 days at sea the Oardacious team are well past the half-way point to the West Indies – despite being plagued by unfavourable weather.
The rowers are one of more than 30 teams, plus individuals, who are aiming to reach Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua and Barbuda from the Canaries – roughly 3,000 miles of ocean – using only oar power assisted by currents and wind.
Although they’ve passed the 1,500-nautical-mile point, there are still 1,140 nautical miles to go (over 1,300 statute miles… or roughly the distance from Portsmouth to Malta.
The four rowers say the past week has probably been the toughest of the three spent at sea so far.
It’s not bad weather which has dogged the team and their boat Captain Jim, quite the opposite. Conditions mid-Atlantic are perfect for sunbathing and swimming – calm seas, minimal breeze and current, relentless sun – but not conducive to ocean rowing.
“It’s been a very tough week – we’ve had five or so days of almost no wind. It’s been like rowing through treacle and on top of that the sun has been oppressive – all the time,” said Lieutenant Commander Guy Wilton, by day a weapon engineer in the Submarine Service.
We look for morale boosts where we can – milestones we can tick off, small goals for each day, such as seeing a small pod of dolphins which was really nice, not least because we’ve not seen much marine life so far
The team comprises air engineers Commodore Richard Purdy (skipper) and Warrant Officer 1 Liam Hoddy and submariners Surg Lt Cdr Addison Taylor (a medical officer working in Glasgow Hospital A&E department) and Lt Cdr Wilton.
They are the fifth Royal Navy team to row under the banner of the HMS Oardacious initiative – which is much more than just a rowing challenge.
It aims to raise awareness of – and provide support for those with - mental health issues, especially in the Royal Navy, with money raised from the endeavour going to the Service’s premier charity, the RNRMC to provide mental health and wellbeing support to serving personnel and their families.
So far the initiative has raised more than £1m, with the 2025-26 row hoping to add at least £20k to the pot (donations can be made via: https://givestar.io/gs/hms-oardacious).
The rowers treated themselves to quality Dutch chocolate to mark passing the 1,500-nautical-mile waypoint, following a can of gin and tonic on New Year’s Day and rum and coke (plus obligatory Santa hats) to celebrate Christmas Day.
This year’s race - involving more than 110 men and women from around the globe: 10 solo rowers, 11 pairs, half a dozen trios and in Oardacious’ category, 16 teams of four – is the third outing for the boat Captain Jim, named in honour of Captain Jim Simpson who tragically took his own life in 2020.
The team are in seventh place overall and fifth in their class, predicted to reach the finish line in Antigua around January 22.
In the lead – as they have been since day one – are Swiss quartet 44 West, nearly 400 nautical miles ahead of Oardacious. They could cross the line as early as eight days before the RN team.
You can follow the team’s progress via www.hmsoardacious.com.