FOUR Scottish rowers have crossed the finish line in a gruelling 3000-mile race over the open ocean.

Their team, Team Atlantic R2R, entered English Harbour, Antigua on Monday morning local time after 40 days, three hours and 31 minutes at sea.

When asked about the team's time on the ship, rower Jordan Parkinson said: "The first ten days was relentless and brutal, we battled for it and luckily came out on the other side.

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"Our emotions come from the four years of really tough hard work. It’s like having a full-time job on top of your full-time job.

"We all chipped in and we did what needed to be done and we could not be more proud of each other."

Father and son duo Richard and Jordan Parkinson come from Skye, as does Tom Atkinson, a former infantryman.

The last member of the team, Paul Roadknight, an infantry warrant officer, comes from Fort Augustus.

The team left San Sebastian on La Gomera, Canary Islands on December 13, spending Christmas and New Year at sea.

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Rowers in the race, which runs every one to two years, lose around 8kg on average and burn 5000 calories per day during its course. 

During the trip, the team was visited by a marlin attempting to catch a tuna that was attempting to seek shelter under their boat, with Richard Parkinson scaring it away with a broken oar.

The team finished in ninth place overall, and sixth place out of 12 among four-person boats.

Five-person, four-person, three-person, pair and solo boats competed in the race.

Team Atlantic R2R was aiming to break the race's record of 27 days, 14 hours and 34 minutes, set by British team The Four Oarsmen in 2017.

The winning team this year, HMS Oardacious, came from the UK, and completed the race on January 17, finishing in 35 days, four hours and 30 minutes.