A four-person crew is attempting a 900-mile row from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise £57m for motor neurone disease (MND) research over four years.
The Row 4 MND team were set to leave Cornwall at around 08:30 BST and aim to reach Scotland via the Irish Sea in about 21 days.
MND is a fatal neurological condition that damages nerves in the brain and spinal cord, leading to muscle weakness, stiffness and eventual paralysis. There is currently no cure.
The row is the first of four planned challenges over the next four years.
Future expeditions include a full UK circumnavigation without support, followed by rows from California to Hawaii and from New York to London.
Team member Matt Parker from Glasgow said: “It’s just not fair that diagnosis of MND results in a life without hope.
“It’s time for us to take responsibility and to make that change.”
Parker was motivated to fundraise after a close friend lost his wife to MND seven years ago.
The recent deaths of rugby players Rob Burrow and Doddie Weir also influenced the team’s plans.
The mixed crew includes two former commandos – British Atlantic record-holder Mike Bates from Leeds and world-record holder Aaron Kneebone from Dorset – alongside three times round-the-world sailor Liz Wardley.
The team described the journey as a “very technically and physically challenging row, particularly taking into account the dangerous waters and tides around the UK.”
The New York to London route is intended as a world record attempt.
The UK circumnavigation is planned as an unsupported row from Scotland to Cornwall via the North Sea.
A British rail operator announced earlier this week that it would name a train in honour of Burrow, who campaigned for MND causes prior to his death in June of this year.
