Whilst rowing 3,600 nautical miles around the world they will also be conducting a research project “that has the potential to redefine Parkinson’s disease and raise £200,000 for their chosen charities.”

James Plumley is described as “an adventurer and business owner from Guernsey’ who has already competed in “six world coastal rowing championships.” In 2013, the now 28-year-old took part in the GB Row race, “rowing non-stop around the UK coastline” – his crew broke the world speed record, a title that he still holds today.

Mr Plumley has also “cycled two thousand miles from the UK to Serbia to raise awareness of flooding in the Balkans.”

He will be joined in the rowing boat by Skipper, Billy Taylor – a 45-year-old fire fighter from the South Coast of England; Barry Hayes a 37-year-old motivational speaker from North Wales and 46-year-old Robin Buttery a university technical instructor from Leicester.

Mr Buttery was diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease in June 2015 and “feels that an experience like this provides a unique opportunity to show others that life doesn’t have to stop with a diagnosis.”

Working with Oxford Brookes University Robin the team “hopes the research undertaken (during their row) will prove to be invaluable for moving the treatment of Parkinson’s disease forward.”

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The team will be setting off in June with the rowing part of the challenge expected to take them 1,920 hours of non-stop rowing.

The four have been training hard already: