Local rowers Sophie Harris and Jason McKinley are about to leave Tower Bridge on Sunday (June 12) with their team on an epic around Great Britain race.

Sophie from Modbury and Jason from Kingsbridge make up part of a mixed team called Sea Legs and are aiming to set records in the mixed, fastest time, first team of five and, for Sophie, as first amputee.

They are also raising money for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.

They completed long distance training where they rowed from Plymouth to Portsmouth continuously.

As a crew they committed to 200 hours on the water across several weekends in Portsmouth and to finish a distance row from Queen Anne’s Battery Marina (Plymouth) to Northney Marina (Portsmouth) which took 64 hours during which time they experienced a multitude of conditions all of which they conquered and came together as a team.

They have completed an array of qualifications from First aid at sea , Sea survival, Day skipper and Yacht master.

Sophie says: “It’s always a struggle to get to the start line of an event on this scale but as a crew Sea Legs have really pulled together well and engaged some fantastic sponsors in kind so far as well as financial.

“Sea Legs are still looking for that last Devon based gold sponsor to partner with. Ideally it’s a conversation to be had before race day on the June 12 but there’s a huge opportunity for a local company to be involved especially with the media and PR plan in place now.

“Training for an endurance event involves hard work but the crew are dedicated and have a ton of motivation to raise vital funds for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in what is arguably the toughest race in the world.

“The crew are excited to finally get on the water and show the world just how beautiful Britain’s shores are and how important it is to protect the and in doing so we’re collecting samples from the seas.”

“We’re set to achieve not only the experience of a challenge such as this but a number of Guinness world records.”

They will be trackable via Yellow Brick, Marine traffic - GB Row “Challenger “