Christmas is on its way but for these brave souls there will be no turkey, nor a Queen's speech; instead, they will be sitting in a 9 x 2 four-man rowing boat in some of the most remote waters on the planet. Competing against 14 other four-man teams ‘Force Atlantic’ will spend anywhere between 6 weeks and 100 days at sea battling for the honour of completing the Talisker Atlantic Challenge.

The campaign is set for departure from La Gomera nestled in the Canary Islands, where the competing teams will start the 3000-mile journey to Antigua – West Indies. It’s not all about who wins though as the team members will also be raising awareness for the Army Foundation College for which they each serve and the ABF (The Soldiers Charity), who will benefit greatly from the pledged 100K they will raise.

FAI’s sponsorship has helped finance the sort of essential hardware needed to attempt this epic voyage, aiding the safe passage for what will be the first official Army team to compete. Completely self-supporting, the team need to harness their skills, strength and mental focus to withstand the unrelenting battering that the Atlantic with throw at them. Seasickness, salt sores and chronic sleep deprivation make this one of the most extreme endurance races known to man.

We’d like to take this opportunity to commend the entire team for selflessly entering into such a mammoth event and would like to wish you the very best of luck. From all of us at FAI, we salute you.

Thanks to some high-end onboard tech, you can stay up to date with their progress by downloading the app. Also, keep tuned to FAI’s Facebook page for updates on the adventure.

To track their progress live, please click here: Live GPS Race Tracker