P&O Cruises is to treat Ocean Brothers Greg Bailey and Jude Massey – who are rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean – to a trip home on board its ship Britannia.
Jude, 19, and Greg, 28, set off from Gran Canaria on January 18 and aim to raise £100,000 for the British Skin Foundation in memory of their late father and stepfather who they lost to skin cancer two years ago.
Their boat measures 7.3 metres by 1.75 metres, they have no support vessel and will row day and night taking it in turns to row two-hour shifts while hand pumping water five hours a day to stay hydrated.
The brothers have suffered a succession of equipment failures, including broken auto helm GPS self-steering equipment, and have capsized in rough seas while Greg has suffered a rotator cuff injury.
They arrived safely in Barbados yesterday (Sunday) where they were met by their mother, author Alexandra Massey, and other family and friends.
Britannia’s Captain Paul Brown will then crane on the boys’ boat and welcome them both on board Britannia on March 16 for the two-week crossing back to the UK, arriving into Southampton on March 30.
While on board Britannia, they will carry out various fundraising events as well as Q&A sessions with passengers.
P&O Cruises senior vice president Paul Ludlow said: “We are excited and honoured to be returning Jude and Greg safely back to the UK after such an heroic undertaking. What they have achieved is simply incredible and I’m sure that our guests will be thrilled to hear about their adventures.
“After their weeks on rations we are looking forward to spoiling them with food from Marco Pierre White and Atul Kochhar as well as the pizza and beer they are dreaming about.”