A ROWER spent Christmas stranded far from her Hartford home when bad weather delayed the start of a 3,000-mile Atlantic race.

Karen Radband spent the festive season in La Gomera, in the Canary Islands, before her rowing challenge finally started a month behind schedule.

The 27-year-old is part of a four-strong team, called the Atlantic WaterBabes, competing against 30 other teams from across the world in the Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Challenge.

Karen and her teammates – 34-year-old Sarah Medland, 35-year-old Kiley Trehorel-Daly and 24-year-old Jo Langmead – are hoping to break the women’s record for rowing across the Atlantic from the Canary Islands to Antigua.

They were due to set off on December 6 but a series of bad weather fronts and high winds coming off the Atlantic meant the fleet was not allowed to leave port.

Three of the crew, including Karen, spent Christmas living on their 29ft boat moored in the marina at La Gomera.

A report from Karen said: “Although not spacious, this is a good opportunity to get used to life on board and the daily routines including cooking and sleeping.”

During the challenge, the team members will row for 12 hours a day – two hours on and two hours off – and want to beat the current record of 51 days, seven hours and 31 minutes.

Karen, a former student at Sir John Deane’s College, said: “It’s been difficult for us to get into the Christmas spirit because without the annual rounds of present-buying and the warm, if wet, weather, it doesn’t really feel like Christmas.

“The Christmas carol concerts hosted by San Sebastian have helped to put this right and although the words are in Spanish, the tunes are often the same.”

The team also decorated their boat with tinsel, snowflakes and a Christmas tree, although their first tree blew away in the gale force winds.

For more information about the team and its challenge visit AtlanticWaterBabes.com.