A former Devizes schoolboy and his pal from Great Bedwyn are to join two other dads next week on one of the world’s toughest and most dangerous challenges – risking their lives by rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic to raise funds for a young women’s cancer charity.

Policeman Ed Smith, a pupil at Devizes School in the nineties, and engineer Adam Green will crew a 28ft rowing boat with their mates from Thatcham Rob Murray and Jack Biss, casting off from La Gomera in Spain next Tuesday (December 12) to haul themselves on a 40-day perilous voyage to Antigua.

The four, who face 40ft waves, storms and bitter cold, have entered the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, in a bid to raise £100,000 for a little-known charity which helped Ed’s wife Anna before she died of cancer at the age of just 38.

None of the men are seamen and in training so far Ed is the only one who hasn’t been seasick. They expect to each burn 12,000 calories a day, rowing for 12 hours a day.

“We can’t really visualise what it’s going to be like until we’re out there,” said Ed, 38, “We’re not sailors so this is a first-time experience and we don’t know what to expect.”

He added: “I know we’re going to have to deal with sleep deprivation as we’ll each be rowing two-hours-on, two-hours-off and we’ve worked out that as a team we’ll be rowing more than one and a half million strokes.”

The team are rowing under the banner Anna Victorious, in honour of Ed’s wife who tragically died in 2018 when their daughter Alba was only 18-months-old and whose bravery has inspired the four to take the Atlantic challenge.

“Anna would light up every room she walked into with her infectious smile,” said Ed, “She would always have the time of day for anybody. Whether it was just for a chat, a shoulder to cry on or offering guidance to people who asked for it.

“She showed incredible strength, bravery, resilience and kindness through her treatment and beyond. She never lost that infectious smile from her face. She continued to help people and change their outlook on life throughout her cancer journey. She truly was and still is a huge inspiration to so many people.

“Throughout Anna's treatment, she was supported by the amazing charity, Victoria's Promise, which helps support women aged 21 to 45 who have cancer . We are proud to be raising money for this charity who change people's lives with the support and services they offer and friendship groups they create.”

One of the greatest tests of the team’s inner strength will be the amount of energy needed to cross the ocean and for this they have been expertly advised by Adam's wife, Phillipa Green, who runs her own nutritionist consultancy, Savernake Nutrition, near Marlborough.

“We are going to burn a lot of calories; I weigh 82 kilos and I expect to be around 70 kilos when we get to the finish,” said Ed.

“We have been so lucky to work with Phillipa throughout all of our training, she has guided us through our nutrition plan for the race. The race organisers require us to carry enough food for 55 days and the amount of food depends on our weight.

“That is not to say that we intend to be at sea for 55 days, we’re aiming to do it in under 40 days, but we have to allow for the worst-case scenario.

“Rob, being the heaviest member of the crew, needs to carry 6,400 calories a day. So to feed Rob alone we need to carry 352,000 calories. It is made up of 4,000 calories in freeze dried meals and 2,400 in snack packs that are in turn made up of nuts, sweets, and protein shakes to be consumed each day.”

Although the crew will be unsupported in their little boat, they will have aboard wi-fi gear that will signal where they are as they cross the Atlantic – and Gazette & Herald readers can follow them all the way through this link, which will go live on Tuesday when they set off.

To donate the Anna Victorious appeal, which has already raised £20,000, go to: justgiving.com/fundraising/annavictorious