He encountered sharks, avoided a near-collision with a freighter and endured unpredictable weather, but Clint Evans made it all the way across the Atlantic in his rowing boat.

Clint, 44, from East Molesey, rowed 2,935 miles to raise cash for the National Autistic Society.

The father-of-three, whose seven-year-old son Merlin has autism, rowed non-stop day and night for 51 days in a 23-foot plywood boat with teammate Chris Andrews.

During the challenge they encountered a 150-foot freighter in the middle of the Atlantic, 1,500 miles from land. Clint, a marketing director, said: "We weren't expecting anyone else to be out there and didn't think we were in a shipping lane.

"It was unclear how big the boat was until it was nearly on top of us. It was about 50 foot away which is only twice the length of our boat.

"We were very scared and shaken up for about half-an-hour afterwards."

The pair rowed in two-hour shifts, burning around 6,000 calories per day. Clint and Chris left from La Gomera in the Canaries on November 27 and reached Antigua in the Caribbean 51 days later.