TWO years ago, rower Richard Wood was literally riding high on the crest of a wave before his dream of conquering the Atlantic disappeared over the horizon.

After three years of sweat, blood and tears preparing for the 3,000 mile Ward Evans challenge, his chance of winning the gruelling race ended when a communications "cock up" left him high and dry in the middle of the desolate ocean.

But now he is ready to complete the challenge.

His partner, Rob Ringer, had decided to retire but due to a faulty messaging system, the pair were left stranded for two days and, giving up hope on the safety boat, rowed back to land themselves.

Despite the title being out of his grasp, Mr Wood ploughed on alone from La Restinga as a participant, before a cooking accident forced him to abandon ship.

But the father-of-three has not given up hope since that disappointing day in November 2001, and is currently tinkering with his new fibre glass boat, refitting the electrics and mentally preparing himself for one of the most draining challenges on record.

"The days since the start have been a complete rollercoaster of emotion, physical exhaustion, mental anguish and continuous toil and hard work," he said during the last race.

But it could have been worse.

As their boat, the Spirit of Worcestershire, passed Gomera, it was almost capsized by a passing ferry and the crew were left floundering in the mounting seas.

At one point, the pair found themselves up against 12-15ft waves in a storm which lasted three days.

"We hadn't eaten much and by now were both absolutely exhausted, not just the kind of tiredness you feel at the end of the day, but an all-pervading exhaustion from lack of food, sleep and constant physical effort," he said.

However, the near death experience has not put off the determined skipper and despite setbacks with this new boat, arranging time off from work at the county's Youth Service and raising sponsorship, he believes he is on course to tackle and complete the mission next January.