THREE rowers who cheated death when a freak wave ended their transatlantic record rowing bid thanked the RAF personnel who played a major part in their rescue.

The crew of the Pink Lady visited RAF Kinloss in Moray, Scotland, to thank the crew of the Nimrod search aircraft, and personnel from the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre (ARCC).

Pink Lady skipper Mark Stubbs, 40, from Poole, Pete Bray, 48, from Bridgend, south Wales, and John Wills, 33, from Surrey, said they would be eternally grateful for the help they received during their ordeal.

The fourth oarsman, 48-year-old Jonathan Gornall, from London, was unable to attend due to commitments overseas.

The quartet were rescued 370 miles off the Scilly Isles on August 8, close to the end of their 2,100-mile Atlantic row.

The rowing boat's emergency beacon was activated at around 1.30am and relayed a signal via satellite to the RAF base.

ARCC personnel then worked with the Maritime and Coastguard agency and the successful rescue was co-ordinated.

At RAF Kinloss, Mr Stubbs said: "We will always be eternally grateful for the incredible support we have received from RAF Kinloss and ARCC personnel, who played a key role in our safe recovery.

"We consider it a great honour to be invited to meet the captain and crew, and look forward to thanking them personally for their invaluable assistance."

Mr Bray added: "It was great to see that Nimrod."

He continued: "One minute you're in your boat and the next minute the boat is upside down and when you come up to the surface of the water, your boat is in half.

"You know there and then that's the end of the row and you have to survive."

Speaking of the RAF personnel, he added: "They don't get the recognition they deserve and a lot of people take what they do for granted."

Mr Wills added: "It's good to be able to thank the people who really do it in person.

"One thing they told us was that they don't practise in such extreme conditions, so for them, it was a good learning curve.

"They were not the type of conditions you could easily replicate for training purposes."

First published: August 21