Yorkshire Rows congratulate winners - and it's '˜not long' until they also finish and make history

Helen Butters, second left, said that the ladies have been inspiring each other and are even closer than before. Picture Bruce Rollinson

The four ladies, aged between 45 and 51, were sent a message of support from Leeds-born celebrity Nell McAndrew, who tweeted “Go Yorkshire Go”, this afternoon. The team of four ladies from Yorkshire said, in a message, that the winning ‘Ocean Reunion’ team had produced a “fantastic row”. Ocean Reunion broke the race record by finishing in 37 days, 9 hours and 12 minutes.

The race winners were well ahead of the rest of the field, but Yorkshire Rows are going strong and have maintained their place in the top 20. They have overcome another challenging week, during which they rowed naked after running out of clothes, leading to nationwide attention.

In an update from the ocean, team member Helen Butters admitted it has been hard being away from family, including missing her daughter Lucy’s 16th birthday last Wednesday - but the group of rowers have had their spirits lifted by visits from dolphins and a whale. Helen, Janette Benaddi, Frances Davies and Niki Doeg, are now using the prospect of reaching the finish in Antigua as one of their motivations. Having already overcome Hurricane Alex, little should faze them now.

Helen said: “It is hard, especially not seeing our families but we knew it was going to be tough.

“The scariest bit was during the hurricane when the rain was lashing down. There were really high winds and thunder and lightning. For three to four days, we didn’t move and were confined to the cabins - with two people in each one, you really can’t move in them.

“But we have also been visited by a whale which stayed with us for two hours and have rowed with a pod of 15 to 20 dolphins, which was absolutely amazing.”

Helen has soldiered on in the race after earlier dealing with sea sickness, while Niki has had to deal with an infection in her fingernail - which she has had lanced - and a bruised coccyx. They have not missed a shift of rowing yet, despite those obstacles.

Adversity has been uniting them even more. It already feels like this will be a life-changing experience - and, of course, will help so many others through the charities they are rowing for. Those are the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Maggie’s.

Helen, who is normally an NHS communications expert in Leeds, added: “We have all been inspired by each other and are so much closer than we were before. We really can’t wait to see our families in Antigua and are really going to appreciate things a bit more. I think, in that sense, it will change our lives.”