'He was doing circles': Leicestershire man rowing Atlantic back on course after rocky start
Andrew Osborne has been training at Rutland Water for the adventure of a lifetime
The family of a Leicestershire man rowing 3,00 miles solo across the Atlantic tells us it's been a nervous but exciting start to the new year.
Andrew Osborne embarked on his journey last week and, after a rocky start, is back on course to touch down in Antigua in three months time.
His partner, Sallyanne Brooksbank, says it was good to hear his voice for the first time since he set off:
'His boat's tracker pings back blue dots every two hours, so we can see exactly where he is. But the first couple of days he was really seasick and the tracker was doing circles which was really quite nerve wracking for everybody watching.'
Sallyanne said he's since gotten back on track and is feeling better:
'He sounded a very long way away, it wasn't a great connection, but he sounded upbeat and said the seas were rough. He had 20ft waves to contend with, and said he felt very small in the ocean.'
'There's going to be a big party when he finishes and we're going to be so pleased to see him. But we can't really make any plans because we don't really know when that will be so we've just got to standby, watch the tracker and keep him in our thoughts.'
Andrew has already raised nearly ÂŁ100k for the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, in memory of his daughter, Amy, who passed away from an undiagnosed heart condition.
You can view the donation page and track Andrew's progress here.