It has been a successful week for four hockey players who are set to row across the Atlantic for Devon Air Ambulance.

The Kingsbridge Estuary Boat Club are pleased to announce that the raffle money collected for the DAAT was handed over to the newly formed female rowing crew, Astro to Atlantic. The club raised £175 during their Christmas dinner.

The team Helen Symons, Chloe Harvey, Louise Read and Gemma Harvey, four team mates from the Kingsbridge and Salcombe Hockey Club are swapping their sticks for oars to take on the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge in December, 2018.

They will be rowing 3000 miles across the Atlantic, from La Gomera to Antigua in an attempt to break the world record and raise money for the DAAT.

They will row around the clock, rowing two hours on and two hours off while facing sleep deprivation, 60ft waves, salt sores, exhaustion and sea sickness in the hope of breaking the current female fours world record which currently stands at 40 days and eight hours.

Now, the ladies need to raise in excess of £100,000 to purchase the boat, safety equipment, kit, race entry fees and prepare themselves with a rigorous training programme.

They are looking for sponsorship and support from local businesses to help achieve this extraordinary ambition while raising money for DAAT along the way.

They thanked the Kingsbridge Estuary Boat Club for their kind donation to the DAAT, as committee members Norman Dilley and Peter Rendell handed over the cheque.