Two women were today forced to give up their quest to row 2,000 miles non-stop around Britain after battling winds and tides in the Thames Estuary for five days.
Charlene Ayres, 23, and Sally Kettle, 36, were taking part in GB Row 2013, billed as the world’s toughest rowing race, when their boat became stuck less than 100 miles from London.
The pair, racing as the Coast Girls in the challenge which set off from London’s Tower Bridge on Saturday, were towed to safety at Ramsgate harbour by a RNLI crew at 2am.
Ms Ayres, of Cardiff, who had suffered from sea-sickness and weakened by dehydration, was taken by ambulance to hospital for a check-up. She is being treated for dehydration.
Ms Kettle, of Kingston-on-Thames, who has successfully rowed the Atlantic twice, said it was “with great sadness” they decided to drop out of the race.
The pair found they were constantly being hit by strong headwinds while the other five boats taking part in the challenge had raced 300 miles away near Land’s End.
