Yorkshire team bare all on quest to become oldest female crew to row an ocean

The four women have been forced to row naked in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge after runing out of clean clothes

From left to right: Frances Davies, 47, Helen Butters, 45, Niki Doeg, 45, and Janette Benaddi, 51, who are attempting to row 3000-miles across the Atlantic in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, revealing they are rowing naked after running out of clean clothes (PA)

Who are they?

Four working mothers - friends Niki Doeg, 45, Helen Butters, 45, Frances Davies, 47, and Janette Benaddi, 51- are one of 26 teams taking part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, attempting to row the 3,000 miles across the Atlantic. Having already passed the halfway mark, The Yorkshire Rows now have less than 1,300 nautical miles to go to the finish line in Antigua.

What makes their challenge so different?

Aiming to become the oldest all-women crew to row an ocean, the friends have faced a hurricane and attacks from flying fish along their journey. But the women have now embarked on a new challenge after running out of clean clothes – they are rowing naked.

You’ve got to be kidding me…

Mrs Benaddi, from Burn, North Yorkshire, wrote on their blog: "Things are starting to get a little smelly. We have no clean clothes to wear (didn't bring much anyway), alas we are naked. It's good for our skin and also when waves hit we dry quick. It's like a nudist camp on this boat (of course we wouldn't know what that is like but can imagine)."

How are they coping?

The women each have sheepskins to sit on and are sporting their harness and lifejackets at all times, so are not completely nude. Mrs Banaddi added they have not washed their hair during their month at sea and personal hygiene now consists of a wash down with baby wipes and application of surgical spirit to their behinds and hands.

What else have they had to endure?

Along with a power failure that left them steering by hand, using a compass and manually converting sea water into drinking water, one of the team suffered from seasickness while Ms Doeg, who celebrated her 45th birthday on the boat, suffered a bruised coccyx in a fall. But they described an “amazing” highlight - rowing with a whale and a pod of dolphins.

Why are they putting themselves through it?

The team are raising money to build a Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre in Leeds and for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.