FORMER Sedbergh School boy George Biggar and his three fellow rowers are still out in front on their Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

According to yesterday's 8am update, the Four Oarsmen are first overall out of 22 teams remaining, having rowed 1,723 nautical miles since leaving the Canary Islands on December 14.

A friend of the oarsmen, Natasha Kende, told the Gazette it was "such a tight race". Travelling at 3.5 knots, the foursome have 915 nautical miles left to row and are estimated to reach Antigua's English Harbour at 6.33am on Sunday, January 14.

Sedbergh-educated George, a London lawyer, is rowing in memory of his late mother, Anne Fisher, a Dalton-in-Furness solicitor who fought a lifelong battle with mental health problems and was a trustee for the charity Mind. The team - George, Peter Robinson, Stuart Watts and Dicky Taylor - have already raised more than £230,000 for Mind and Spinal Research.

Despite a leaky cabin, sleep deprivation, "countless blisters" and homesickness "creeping in", the friends posted on their blog that spirits are high. They say they are "firing on all cylinders to get to Caribbean waters ASAP" to satisfy cravings for cups of tea with bacon-and-egg sandwiches. Among their highlights have been a passing comet and the "vast blanket of stars" on clear nights.

To donate, visit thefouroarsmen.com/donate