Duo take on World’s Toughest Row for charity

Childhood friends Kip Wells and Chris Ambler are rowing 3,000 miles for charity.

Kip (left) who serves at RAF Waddington and Chris are taking part in the Atlantic World’s Toughest Row 2025 for the Jon Egging Trust (JET) – the charity named after the Red Arrow pilot who lost his life in an air display and that aims to help young people achieve through STEM based projects,

The duo first met at St George’s Academy, Sleaford, which is one of the school’s that works with JET, and their friendship will be put to the test as the row from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua.

Ahead of them could be 40-foot waves, sharks, blisters, and roughly 1.5 million oar strokes each, for around 45 days. 

Today marks day five and the pair have settled into a routine but faced some tough seasickness.

Rowing under the name Force Horizon, Kip and Chris will spend up to two months at sea in a seven-metre boat named Memento Mori, rowing in two-hour shifts around the clock - completely unsupported. 

This means they're entirely self-sufficient: responsible for navigation, repairs, food and water, not to mention surviving whatever else the Atlantic throws at them. More people have climbed Mount Everest than have rowed the Atlantic.

Training has been unconventional, as Chris has spent much of the last few years based in Tanzania for work, while Kip serves at RAF Waddington. The pair have learned to row together largely over dodgy Wi-Fi and WhatsApp calls – squeezing in sea survival courses, overnight rows from Hartlepool to Scotland, and a string of local fundraising events whenever they have been in the same country. 

Find more about the team at www.forcehorizon.com or on Instagram/Facebook @force_horizon. Further updates from the ocean will be shared on social media throughout.