HE won the coldest race on Earth - now Monmouth adventurer Andrew Barnett is in training to row the Atlantic.

Mr Barnett, 44, is teaming up with South American endurance racer Juan Car-los Sagastume, whom he met on his 300-mile race across the frozen wastes of the Yukon last year.

And with fellow Monmouth rower Rob Munslow now in the third week of his four-man Atlantic record bid, Mr Barnett and his Guatemalan crewmate can't wait for their two-man trip to get under way.

Mr Sagastume jetted in to the UK for some ocean navigation and survival training this week ahead of November's start date, and the duo also took to the River Wye with Mr Barnett for some long training sessions.

"It's a bit calmer than we'll get on the Atlantic, but we had six training rows and it was good to push out in a boat together," said Monmouth Rowing Club captain, Mr Barnett, a medical rep.

"He hadn't rowed at all until a few months ago, so I was able to give him a few technical pointers he can take home to work on," he said.

"I've almost finished building the ocean kit boat we're going to be rowing 2,950 miles in, and we hope to get out on the sea together in August.

"I'd already decided to have a go at rowing the Atlantic, and when my original partner dropped out, Juan Carlos jumped at the chance to join me."

His crewmate said: "I heard Andrew give an interview in the Yukon, and when asked about his next challenge, he said 'row the Atlantic', and I thought Wow!

"Then I e-mailed him three months later to ask what else he was doing, and he wrote to say his crewmate had dropped out and did I fancy it. "I couldn't write back quick enough. I'd never been in a rowing boat, but I thought 'what an adventure'."

The duo have been busy working out the logistics for their epic journey from the Canary Islands to Antigua, which they will be doing with 50 other boats as part of the Woodvale Ocean Race.

And they have just spent seven days attending ocean-going courses in Devon on radio use, navigation, meteorology, currents, first aid and survival at sea.

Thorough preparation for the crossing is vital, both in terms of route planning and stocking provisions.

They need to take 150 litres of water as ballast, and enough food to provide 6,000 calories a day, three times a man's normal intake. Mr Barnett added: "Hopefully we'll catch the odd fish as well.

"And we've got a freshwater maker to convert sea water for liquid, a gas stove for cooking and solar panels for light and to power the radar reflector, which warns boats not to hit us.

"I think that's the most scary thing, these giant tankers bearing down on you that can't see a thing."

Meanwhile, the crewmates face just as big a task raising the £60,000 needed for their epic bid, which is being backed by Arthritis Research.

The venture has had some help with the fittings for the boat from PJ Engineering and Plaslab.

Anyone who can help the duo is asked to e-mail them at andrewbarnett@ukonline.co.uk