Four Coalville rowers planning to cross the Atlantic Ocean in the 3,000 mile Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge in 2025 sampled the atmosphere they can expect in 2025 by watching the start of the latest race in the Canary Islands.

Under the name Anchor Management, the team will be taking to the seas and aiming to raise money for the Macmillan cancer charity.

One of the Stealth Fitness-based team has Sarah Tebbett - a breast cancer survivor, and the race will on the 10th anniversary of her diagnosis.

Owner of Stealth, in Stephenson Way, and Leicestershire County Councillor Craig Smith will be skippering their boat 'Valkerie' and he is joined by Sarah, Sammi Woodward and Tim Hodgkinson.

All four of them flew out to the Canary Islands last month where the event started in La Gomera.  

Craig explained why they were there and what they learnt from the visit.

He said: "Over the last year, when we have met teams who have rowed the Atlantic, or were planning to, one of their main pieces of advice has been go to the start of the race.

"So, in December, that is exactly what we did.  Team Anchor Management left a freezing cold East Midlands Airport and flew off to the beautiful La Gomera.  

"The journey itself taught us many valuable lessons including the fact that when you live 15 minutes from the airport you probably don't need to leave home four hours before your flight.  

"The ferry to the island also showed us that sea sickness is very likely to be a part of our rowing journey. 

"The Atlantic Campaigns team provided us with Future Rower identification, meaning that we were able to access the marina and spend time meeting both this year's teams and other future rowers who were visiting.  

"We could also get close to the boats and see them in the water, ready to head off.  

"The Enginoars, who have become friends of ours since we arranged to buy their boat Valkyrie, are in this year's row and were happy to show us around the boat as they prepared to head off.  

"We were also able to attend a really valuable future rowers' briefing over the weekend giving us really clear advice on how to plan and what to expect.   

"Being a part of start day was a very emotional experience and took all of us by surprise.  

"The opportunity to be part of this with limited involvement helped all of us to think about how we will manage our own start day and who we would like to be there to wave us off.  

"The team all agreed that there are elements of the preparation that we didn't see on this trip that we would like to see on a future visit including the safety inspections that take place before the boats are put into the water. 

"The weekend also provided lots of valuable opportunities for team building including a walk over the hills to a beautiful beach which the skipper particularly enjoyed and an England World Cup game.  

"We did a lot of laughing and a lot of making fun of each other which is promising for weeks on the ocean together.  

"One of the local restaurant owners even gave us our first glimpse of a Marlin spear to add to Craig's anxiety.  

"Our next trip to La Gomera is most definitely in the calendar for later this year."