Charity rowers closing in on finish line

A New Zealand crew of four expat Britons competing in a charity rowing race across the Indian Ocean is two to three days from reaching the finish line at Mauritius.

The Rowing for Prostate crew of Tom Wigram, Peter Staples, Billy Gammon and Matt Hampel had 127 nautical miles to go based on their reported position yesterday, the race website said.

The crew will finish fourth from an original list of 11 entries in the Indian Ocean Rowing Race if they maintain their present progress.

Three other teams have completed the 3132-nautical-mile journey, which began from Geraldton in Western Australia on April 19.

The first was a British crew of four who crossed the line on June 27 (NZ time) after 68 days, 19 hours and 40 minutes.

Apart from RFP, two other boats are still competing, but the remaining six have retired.

There was concern for the RFP crew last week when race organisers lost contact with them for six days.

The reason is thought to be their difficulties with recharging an on-board satellite phone.

They were eventually located by a coastguard plane, with which they communicated by VHF radio.

- NZPA