A FOUR-man crew — with members from Boscastle and Bodmin — are planning to row across the Atlantic Ocean, to raise funds for Parkinson’s UK.

Team Sea Change Atlantic are competing in the 2027 edition of the world’s longest organised rowing event, The Atlantic Dash, a journey of 3,200 miles.

Rowing across the Atlantic is no mean feat: more people have climbed Everest. With no support vessels accompanying them, the crew will row in rotation, two hours on, two hours off, over the 50 to 60 days and nights that it will take for them to cross from Lanzarote to Antigua. The crew aim to set off in January 2027.

Selecting Parkinson’s UK as the national charity to benefit from this row was an easy decision. Crew members David ‘Maddie’ Pyle from Bodmin Moor and Adam Benjamin from Boscastle have both watched their fathers impacted by the debilitating neurological disorder.

Adam’s father, Roy, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s during the Covid lockdowns.

“Parkinson’s is having a profound effect on all areas of my dad’s life,” Adam explains. “He’s constantly discovering new Parkinson’s symptoms, from tremors, body rigidity and postural instability through to muscle pain and latterly, difficulty swallowing.”

“Throughout his life, he has been active in mind and body. Politics and tandem cycling were his greatest loves, along with Crystal Palace football club. Now, his Parkinson’s has put paid to his cycling, his political outbursts come more slowly and he doesn’t jump out of his chair when Palace score.”

Maddie’s father died of complications associated with Parkinson’s. “It took forever for my dad to receive an accurate diagnosis,” he explains. “But once he was officially told what we all already knew, the support he and our family received from the Parkinson’s nurse was absolutely rock solid.”

Tom Ingram, corporate partnerships Lead at Parkinson’s UK, said: “A huge thank you to the Sea Change Atlantic Team for supporting Parkinson’s UK by participating in the 2027 Atlantic Dash. Every person with Parkinson’s should get specialist healthcare to help them manage their symptoms better and to live more independently. But thousands don't. By taking on this epic challenge and pushing themselves to the limit, Adam, Maddie and the crew will raise awareness of the vital work of the charity and help to fund the Parkinson’s UK Nurse Appeal, which aims to give more people access to a specialist Parkinson’s nurse.”

The crew have received support from Sir Steve Redgrave who said: “Good luck Adam, Maddie and Richard on your amazing challenge. It will all be about the preparation, both physical and mental, so train hard; you have a good amount of time to prepare and it will all be money in the bank so to speak! Rowing 3,200 miles is not for the faint hearted. You need to get those hands toughened up!

“I only used to do 2,000 metre racing, so I take my hat off to you guys for attempting such an epic adventure and for such a great cause that affects us all. I have no doubt you will succeed.”