Release Date 30 th November 2015

Yorkshire mums take on toughest rowing race on Earth

A team of inspirational mums are hoping to earn their place in the history books by becoming the oldest female crew to row across any ocean.

The Yorkshire Rows team Helen Butters, 45, Janette Benaddi, 51, Niki Doeg, 44, and Frances Davies, 47 are racing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic from the Canary Islands to Antigua, in the Caribbean, as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

The mammoth challenge will take the quartet between five to ten weeks to complete and will see them battle 30ft waves, sharks, exhaustion, sleep deprivation and sea- sickness, as well as chafing in all manner of places.

Christmas and New Year will also be spent away from their families, with pineapple chunks and tinned sardines replacing the traditional Christmas dinner.

Hailing from and Selby, the team met four years ago at York’s Guy Fawkes Boat Club and made the brave decision to enter the race over a glass of wine at the boat club dinner.

Since then, they have spent the past two years juggling both physical and mental training with their full-time jobs and busy family lives, with two children each.

With just two weeks left before the start of the race on December 15, rower and Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell paid a surprise visit to Airport to offer some last minute words of wisdom before they boarded the plane to La Gomera this morning.

Helen Butters, a communications expert in the NHS, said:

“It was great to get advice from James Cracknell. He has been there, done it, and has given us some really good tips. This row to me is about empowerment – showing that ordinary women can achieve extraordinary things with hard work and determination. It has been an intense two years of planning and organising and it will be a doubly intense two months with no sleep and rowing continuously on an ocean that really scares me – but this challenge will have a huge impact and make a difference to so many people’s lives. We never expected this much support and we really just want to get in the boat and do it now.”

The team is hoping to raise in excess of £100,000, which will be split between the Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) and Maggie’s who will be opening a new cancer support Centre at St James’s University Hospital in in 2017.

Maggie’s Chief Executive, Laura Lee said:

“I’d like to say a big thank you to the Yorkshire Rows team for choosing to sign up to this incredible challenge. The team’s fundraising efforts will make a huge difference in helping us to build the new Centre at St James’s University Hospital. We wish them the best of luck when they start the challenge in December.”

Paul Gowland, Director of Fundraising at YAA added:

“We wish the Yorkshire Rows team every success for what is an unbelievable challenge. It shows an amazing amount of strength that whilst these brave ladies are rowing across the Atlantic, they are thinking of others and helping to save lives across Yorkshire. Our very best wishes are with them and we are grateful they are supporting the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.”

Welcome to Yorkshire is supporting the team throughout their challenge.

Sir Gary Verity, Chief Executive said:

“The Yorkshire Rows are an inspiration to us all and prove that if you put your mind to something anything is possible. We’re proud to be supporting the Yorkshire Rows during their incredible challenge and we wish them the very best of luck – we will be with them every stroke of the way!”

The team will be writing a regular blog documenting their journey. To follow their progress visit blog.mailasail.com/yr

To follow the race live, download the Yellow Brick Race Viewer app available for both iPhone and Android from www.ybtracking.com/race-app.php

For more information on the team or to donate visit www.yorkshirerows.com , www.facebook.com/yorkshirerows2015 or follow @YorkshireRows Twitter.

- ENDS -

Images: The Yorkshire Rows leave Manchester Airport L-R Niki Doeg, Frances Davies, Janette Benaddi and Helen Butters

The Yorkshire Rows L-R Niki Doeg, Frances Davies, Helen Butters and Janette Benaddi with James Cracknell

The Yorkshire Rows L-R Frances Davies, Helen Butters, Niki Doeg and Janette Benaddi

Editors’ Notes:

• is the official destination management organisation for Yorkshire, working to grow the county’s visitor economy. • Welcome to Yorkshire is a not-for-profit membership organisation, funded in part by grants, sponsorship and Welcome to Yorkshire members. All money raised is reinvested directly back into promoting Yorkshire. • Key facts include: • Tourism in Yorkshire is worth £7 billion annually • The county’s industry employs almost a quarter of a million people

For more news and a free image bank http://www.yorkshire.com/mediacentre

For further information contact: Marie Christopher – Senior Press Officer Email: [email protected] Direct Line: 0113 322 3537 Mobile: 07557 157 034

Hannah Bryan – Press Officer Email: [email protected] Direct Line: 0113 322 3578 Mobile: 07581 575220