LEVEN Brown clambered up a 15-metre rope in gale-force winds after his record-breaking rowing attempt was abandoned in dramatic circumstances in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Herefordshire adventurer and his crew were rescued last week after their boat lost its rudder.

The boat had been struck by a submerged object - thought to have been a whale or a floating container.

The rowers were 11 days into their attempt to break the ‘Trade Winds’ record when disaster struck 280 miles north-west of Cape Verde.

“They were drifting without steering and little possibilities of repairs,” said Brown’s mother, Hermione Macfarlane.

“The weather conditions were awful with gale-force winds. With the weather and the circumstances, the decision to abort was the best course of action.

“The men will be devastated that this expedition has had to finish on this note especially as everything had been going so well.”

Brown, from Staunton-on-Wye, and his 14-strong crew were attempting to break the record for rowing from Gran Canaria to Barbados.

The crew were almost three days ahead of schedule when the rudder was shredded in last Tuesday’s impact.

The crew rigged up a temporary rudder but it failed and a mutual decision was made to stop the expedition.

Falmouth Maritime and Rescue Centre co-ordinated the search-and-rescue of the boat and a 24,000-ton Island Ranger bulk carrier was dispatched.

The carrier picked up the rowers in treacherous weather conditions and took them to Gibraltar.

Brown and his crew were expected to arrive home last night (Wednesday).

“The night of the 15th (last Thursday) will no doubt leave an indelible imprint on these men,” said Macfarlane.

“The memory of having to clamber up a 15-metre rope on to a bulk carrier in gale force winds in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean will not be easily erased.

“Ocean rowing is an extreme sport and there are many dangerous aspects to it but the unseen danger is the worst. There is no warning equipment on the market to locate this type of hazard.”

The ‘Trade Winds’ record remains at 33 days, seven hours and 30 minutes which Brown and his La Mondiale crew set in January last year.