All eyes were on Barbados again, as a joint British/Irish team rowed into history and created a Guinness World Record on Thursday, shattering a 15-year-old record.

The 14-man team left the Canary Islands on December 15 and arrived in Barbados 33 days, 7 hours and 13 minutes later after crossing the Atlantic Ocean, beating the old record of 35 days, 8 hours and 30 minutes, by two days.

Skipper and organiser Leven Brown described some of the highs and the lows of the trip.

"It was a great trip," he said. "We rowed three days into a storm in the first week, lost three days, thought we'd lost the record then, but we had a great row thereafter. The guys rowed like heroes and we caught up all the time. Boy, is it great to be here in Barbados!"

Navigating the high seas in the French-built boat, La Mondiale, the team was competing against the clock. However, many members had their own motivations; either emotional or charitable. Some rowed in memory of family members, while one rowed for the charity, the National Association for People Abused in Childhood.

Ship doctor Liam Hughes, a cardiologist and crew member, said he had a lot of work to do in a medical capacity, including caring for his own sea sickness. "There were blisters, sores, muscle pain, you get wet as well ... the damp was the worst. I think we took in about 6500 calories but used about 10 000 per day."

Describing the 3 000-mile haul as "relentless," the 54-year-old doctor, the oldest member of the team, spoke of the intense physical toll: "Go into a room at home with a rowing machine for two hours on and two hours off for 24 hours. Don't leave the room, not even if nature calls, and live on frozen dried food."

Kenneth Crutchlow, president of the International Ocean Rowing Society, who presented the official Guinness World Record certificate, had praise for the team which came together specifically for this purpose.

"It was spectacular, an indication of the efforts these guys put into it. They had four days of bad weather which stopped them in the beginning, but they overcame that and here we are."

He also confirmed that the elite team had set other records. "This is the first time any ocean row boat covered 117 miles in a 24-hour period, and they did nine days consecutively with more than 100-mile days." (ABB)