For Rachel Smith and Lin Griesel, September 16th at the Southampton Boat Show saw the successful launch of their campaign for their Atlantic Rowing Challenge in aid of Breast Cancer Care, in November 2007. The launch marked the start of a two year challenge, to raise the funds needed in the run up to the race.

Rachel and Lin were extremely pleased with the day’s outcome as Rachel enthused, “people are so supportive and the feedback has been really fantastic. Our confidence has grown a lot and we are really positive that we will ultimately raise the funds in time for the race.”

Sporting celebrity Denise Lewis admires the girls bravery and supports their cause, "As Breast Cancer Care's Sporting Ambassador, I would like to wish Rachel and Lin the best of luck in their Atlantic Rowers' Challenge. It is a remarkable and daunting challenge which will test them both physically and mentally. I would like to encourage everyone to get behind these courageous women and help them raise as much as possible for Breast Cancer Care."

Just one day after their exhausting campaign launch at Southampton, Lin and Rachel went on to successfully compete in their first rowing event involving a Woodvale Pairs rowing boat (the same type of boat that the pair will be using during the Atlantic Rowing Race), The Trafalgar Great River Race. The annual event, organised by Woodvale Events, is open to several different classes and runs 22 miles from Richmond to Greenwich. They were the only all-female crew (joined along by Nicky Ware and Jo Sally) to compete in this type of boat and after a long, gruelling day, they completed the course in four hours and 14 minutes, coming third.

The girls admit to go through a steep learning curve, ‘We had great support all the way down the course and the experience taught us plenty about this type of boat. We picked up valuable information on the type of training we need to do and the determination that this will require. But we are ready to give the challenge everything we have.’

Rachel and Lin will be starting the Atlantic Rowing Challenge at La Gomera and will be rowing without help, if all goes well, to Antigua, a journey that is almost 3000 miles and will hopefully take around 70 days. During the race, they expect to experience extremes of blistering heat, stark conditions and 30 foot waves.

The women aim to smash the current women’s World Record for rowing the Atlantic whilst completing the race. As well as setting a new record, another challenge is to raise £90,000 for Breast Cancer Care, the UK’s leading provider of breast cancer information and support. With the support of some of the greatest sporting women, they are bound to be a winning team.