Four Galway oarsmen have successfully completed the first north Irish Sea crossing by racing currach.
The four - Patrick O'Malley (21), Martin Freeney (22), Niall Higgins (21) and Fergus Colleran (21) - were forced to set out a day earlier than planned on advice from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
They were undertaking the 35km challenge from Scotland to Ireland last weekend to raise funds for RNLI west coast lifeboats.
Racing currachs are built for speed, rather than endurance, and do not enjoy the stability of working currachs.
However, the crossing was incident free, apart from one or two "hairy moments".
"One of the crew stood up, and that was not a good idea," Mr O'Malley said.
"We managed to recover, and there were no repeat performances!"
The four were accompanied by a support vessel, and RNLI offshore craft at Portpatrick in Scotland and Donaghadee, Co Down, were on standby.
A target of €20,000 will be divided between the Aran Islands offshore lifeboat - one of the busiest on the coastline - and the Galway inshore craft.
Donations can be made to the Irish Sea Challenge-RNLI through Allied Irish Banks. The account number is 2078770771.
