A SERIAL entrepreneur and chairman of a Chester-based full fibre network provider has broken a world record in rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean.

Chairman of Saighton firm ITS, Kevin Gaskell, along with four other oarsmen known as the Ocean5, arrived in Antigua on Friday, January 17, having completed the epic feat.

Their efforts have succeeded in breaking a world record and raising more than £100,000 for the Plastic Soup Foundation, a charity that is working to combat the plastics building up in the world's oceans.

The Ocean5 have completed the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, which started from San Sebastian in La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain on December 12.

Their efforts have ensured they have achieved the world record for a team of five by nearly 24 hours, taking them 35 days 19 hours and 50 minutes.

The guys rowed around the clock, staying within the confines of their tiny 28x5ft wide rowing boat, where they ate, slept, rowed, repeat, 24 hours a day.

It wasn't all 'plain sailing' as they encountered sharks, storms and capsized.

The Ocean5 undertook this challenge for very good reason. Each is, or has been involved in the maritime industry, and so the state of the world's oceans is something that they all feel passionately about.

Kevin took on the challenge along with his son Matt, who are no strangers to extreme expeditions, having completed a 190-mile trek to the south pole in 2008 to raise funds for cancer research.

For more information about the Ocean5, visit theocean5.com.