Jason Hart, Brixham’s first XV number 8 and Devon county captain has taken on a huge new challenge - rowing the Atlantic with three friends.

Jason, who is 30 and married to Karen, with daughters Jemma and Bethan, had already completed more than 1,000 miles in the first 11 days of the Ocean Rowing Society’s John Fairfax Regatta at the time of writing. The four were 500 miles ahead of their nearest competitors and less than 2,000 miles from the finish in Port St Charles, Barbados. The crew aboard the 24ft boat Queensgate, named after their main sponsors, a subsidiary of Sifam in Torquay, has coped with rowing two on the blades and two off in one hour shifts in the daytime and two hour shifts at night.

The ex-Army and Combined Services U21 player has played 151 games for Brixham. Said their President, Danny Irvine, “He captained our first XV after leaving the Army, played for Plymouth Albion for a while and then rejoined Brixham last summer. Jason has played for Devon since 1995 and has captained the county since 1999. The whole rugby fraternity is rooting for him. He’s a great guy and helps with the coaching of Dartmouth RFC as well as belonging to Dartmouth Rowing Club.”