Seventeen teams from around the world have set off rowing from Spain’s San Sebastian de la Gomera in the Canary Islands in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge in what is billed as the “World’s Roughest Rowing Race.” The teams will follow the ‘Columbus Route’ westbound across the mid-Atlantic to Port St Charles in Barbados, rowing an estimated 3,000 miles over roughly 50 days. There are two solo rowers and fifteen two, four or six person crews.

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RACE LAUNCH from Talisker Whisky on Vimeo.

 The teams are often as impressive as the race itself is daunting. The Road to Recovery Team‘s six rowers are all veterans of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Four of the team are amputees or were seriously wounded, including double amputee Corporal Neil Heritage, who lost both legs to a suicide bomber in Iraq; Lieutenant Will Dixon, who lost a leg to an IED in Afghanistan; Corporal Rory Mackenzie, who lost a leg in Iraq; Lance Corporal Carl Anstey, who was hit by the blast from a rocket-propelled grenade in Afghanistan; and Captain Tony Harris, who lost a leg to an IED in Afghanistan. The team aims to raise £1M for the “Help for Heroes” charity helping wounded veterans.

The Row for Freedom team is the first all female crew of five to row across the Atlantic and are aiming to break the world record for the fastest ever female trans-Atlantic row. They are raising money for ECPAT UK and the A21 Campaign, both charities campaigning to end human trafficking.

Team Tiger is a husband and wife team, raising money for St Mungo’s and the Huntington’s Disease Association: “As incurable rowers, we’ve done our fair share of going to interesting places and rowing in them, and an ocean is the ultimate next step. So this is less of a race for us and more of an ocean safari.”

Atlantic Dash, Jamie Windsor and John Haskell, two firefighters from Wales, are raising money for the Fire Fighters Charity in a fire truck themed boat.

Soneravnorge, a Norwegian duo, Emil Eide Eriksen and Trond Bratland Erichsen, are raising money for the national organisation for heart and lung disease, Landsforeningen for Hjerte-og Lungesyke.

Team Amigo is a Canadian pair. Ole Elmer is 63 years old and this is his second Atlantic Row with the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. This year, he is rowing with his son, Michael.

Andrew Brown is a solo rower raising money for Help a London Child: “I’ve sailed across the Atlantic before and the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge is the perfect opportunity for me to challenge myself further.”

Independent of the race, John Beeden is ten days into a solo row across the Atlantic. He departed from the Canary Islands bound for Barbados and hopes to arrive on or near his 50th birthday on Jan. 24.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the news along.