After 43 days at sea, three friends from the Isle of Wight have completed their epic Atlantic rowing challenge for charity.

The Mermaid Atlantic crew of Chris Mannion, who owns iSurf; Paul Berry, a Ventnor longshoreman and firefighter; and Xavier Baker, the co-founder of the Isle of Wight Distillery, reached their final destination of Antigua last night (Thursday).

Finishing in 16th place overall, it took the Islanders a total of 43 days 17 hours and 58 minutes to row 3,000 miles.

The trio set off from La Gomera on December 13, in the hope of raising money for three charities close to their hearts — The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, The Seahorse Trust and Surfers Against Sewage.

Isle of Wight County Press: The Island trio celebrate completing their rowing challenge.The Island trio celebrate completing their rowing challenge. (Image: World's Toughest Row.)

During their World's Toughest Row journey, they battled stormy weather and rough conditions, and also suffered a broken dagger board.

On one occasion, they were even forced to fire an emergency flare and had a near miss with a tanker.   

They even spent Christmas day at sea, all in support of ocean preservation causes.

At the time of press, the trio had raised nearly £15,000 - around double their original £7,500 target.

The money will be split three ways between the charities.