Each team must be entirely self sufficient for the duration of the crossing. Any outside help or assistance, even of any emergency nature disqualifies the team. All supplies, including food, must be carried on board the boat. All boats carry a water desalinator, which turns salt water into drinking water. The cabin is cramped and typically one crew member will rest while the other rows. Typical shift patterns are 1.5 – 3 hours on/off continuously through the journey. There is no toilet on board and the procedure involved is affectionately known as “bucket and chuck it!”

The race starts as it means to go on. As teams row past the Canary Islands on the first night they pick up the "acceleration zone" where the wind is funnelled through the group of islands creating rough storm like conditions and sea sickness and sleep deprivation begin to take their toll.

The race was devised by Sir Chay Blyth who, in 1966, with John Ridgeway, became the first people in the 20th century to row across the Atlantic. Blyth and Ridgeway rowed west to east from Newfoundland to Ireland in a crossing that took 96 days. There have been 4 previous races in 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2005. By no means all competitors finish.

Interestingly, the fastest west to east crossing is still held by two Norwegians, Harbo and Samuelson who in 1896 rowed from New York to the Scilly Isles in an 18 ft open boat in 55 days nearly dying in the process.