Two Irish men faced a very different Christmas Day as they raced across the Atlantic in a bid to become the fastest men to row the ocean.
After spending last Christmas carving a turkey, this year Ciaran Lewis, 34, and 28-year-old Gearoid Towey, were on board their seven-metre boat eating special calorie packed freeze dried meals.
But Lewis revealed the celebrated day could be a milestone for the pair as it should be the half way mark in the Atlantic Rowing Race. "It should be a milestone, as on Christmas Day we are around the half way mark," he said.
Lewis and Irish Olympic Rower, Towey, left La Gomera in the Canary Islands on November 30th last and are headed for Antigua in the Caribbean, as part of a 2,550 nautical mile race which is expected to take at least 40 days.
The rower said the pair were doing some of the usual events to mark the occasion including phoning their family via satellite phone and opening a small present. "It will be an untypical Christmas," he said, as he spoke during a break from rowing.
One of the team's organisers said the pair would enjoy a small piece of Christmas cake and a tiny Santa was also placed on the boat to remind them of home.
Fewer than 160 people have crossed the Atlantic in a rowing boat from the Canary Islands following the route taken by Christopher Columbus, but the rowers are determined to become the first Irish crew to win the race.