After an afternoon helping to get the boat, hall and tables ready, Lin and Rachel had just 40 minutes to get ready. A quick sprint down the road in posh frocks and they were ready for an evening with the potential to be a turning point for the challenge. Nerves were jangling a little at the thought of standing up in front of so many people.

The awards are taken very seriously and with an Oscars theme, took months of planning. Held at the ICC in Birmingham, the 630 guests were treated to a red carpet arrival, complete with paparazzi, screaming fans and autograph hunters. Greeted by Lin and Rachel at the door, they were then treated to a display of the Italian Job mini's, a Morgan, new Landrover Discovery, London taxi, an Ocean Rowing Boat (!) and, best of all, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!

Strange as it may seem, meeting Chitty was the highlight of the event for our two intrepid rowers, and although this particular Chitty didn't float, they both got to sit in the driving seat and play out a few childhood dreams!

All in all the evening went incredibly well and Accelerate achieved their target of raising £10,000 in one night. With the help of Quentin Willson who hosted the event, most of the money came from table donations, £2,000 from the auction of two England rugby shirts signed by all 28 elite players, and the remainder from a generous, anonymous donor.

The next day, after counting the cash (which took a while!), Lin took the boat back to her new home, while Rachel headed to Liverpool to give a talk to a local Coaching Group. From this the team have gained the suppoet of a nutritionist and a new network of people to spread the word about the challenge.

The challenge is gaining new Land Crew members every week now and the team are following plenty of leads for sponsors and fundraising events. Money is coming in and their key task over the winter is to finalise payments for the boat. So if you know anyone who can help, please point them in this direction.

Plans for the website continue to progress well and the intention is to launch it in the spring. All that's left to tell you this month is that our team would like to say a big thank you to everyone at Accelerate, particularly Rachel and Lucy, Wayne Murcott for the introduction to Accelerate, and those who attended the event. The Atlantic Rowing Challenge is now 23% of the way to target after such a huge boost, and who knew that raising money could be so much fun!

Question of the month - Why are you involving a nutritionist in the challenge?

While both rowers have learnt a lot about nutrition in their time on the GB Dragon Boat Racing team, the Atlantic Rowing Race brings with it new challenges.

Dragon Boat racing is a cyclical sport and each major competition fits roughly into a 12 month cycle. For the Atlantic row, training started in 2005 and has been continuous since. Both rowers are now at a good level of competence in sculling (rowing with 2 oars) and can manage a constant row of 2 hours on a machine.

However training is increasing and the additonal pressures of working full time, fundraising, families, etc mean that the physical side of things can easily be affected - that's their health as well as training ability.

By working with a nutritionist, the team will be addressing aspects of health to help long term. Avoiding coughs and colds will be important, as well as managing stress and its physical manifestation. The nutritionist will be looking at overall health and wellbeing, particularly their immune and adrenal systems, and helping them to plan specifically fro this kind of extreme endurance event.