A COUPLE aiming to be the first mixed pairs team to circumnavigate Great Britain by rowing boat has arrived at Poole Harbour.

The couple, Allan Lipp and Mhairi Ross, are raising money for two charities, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), which is based in Poole, and Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance.

The ‘ambitious’ world record attempt, titled The Long Row Home, has been sponsored by the Wimborne-based company Boralex. Boralex is a ‘major player in renewable energy’ focusing on four sectors: wind, solar, hydroelectricity, and storage.

Esbjorn Wilmar, managing director of Boralex UK, said: “Boralex is proud to be supporting this amazing challenge, which will support the life-saving work of the RNLI and SCAA.

“Many of our wind farms, including our Limekiln project, are in very remote locations and the work that SCAA does, in particular, can be critical to saving lives.”

Since leaving Wick in the north of Scotland on Saturday, 1 June, the couple has recorded over 810 nautical miles of 2000+.

Not yet halfway, the Scottish pair have raised over £19,000 of their £30,000 target from the many supporters tracking their progress.

The plan is to complete the challenge unassisted, which means that, for the duration of the journey, they will not touch land or accept provisions.

Everything they need has been packed onboard their seven-metre rowing boat, including dehydrated food provisions and a desalination unit to make drinking water.

Allan and Mhairi have over 35 years of RNLI seagoing service between them. Allan is a full-time coxswain on the Wick lifeboat, and Mhairi, a paramedic with the Scottish Ambulance Service, also volunteers as a navigator with the RNLI. 

Alan Lipp said: “This is a phenomenal experience that brings about a whole spectrum of emotions from the elation of spotting dolphins and making good time in a gentle breeze to the frustration at going nowhere and finding no shelter in a deep swell and confused sea.

 “We have been completely overwhelmed by the support that we’ve received to date. It is the thought of all the people that are behind us that keeps us going when times are tough."

There is a GoFundMe page set up titled: Mhairi Ross is fundraising for Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance (justgiving.com)