Two Bristol women are calling on businesses to get behind their bid to cross the Atlantic and bring a world record back to the city.

Annie Januszewski, 40, and Mel King, 36, will be joined by two men from London to become the first mixed four to row the 3,000-mile stretch between the Canary Islands and Antigua.

The Atlantic Rowing Race 2009 will see the plucky ladies having to use the toilet in front of their male colleagues as well as the high possibility of rowing naked to avoid salt water sores.

Their trip, which is expected to take between 45 and 60 days, will see the team row two hours on, two hours off, day and night, right through Christmas and New Year.

The crew all face the prospect of sunstroke, sleep deprivation, salt sores, 35ft waves, probable capsizes, sharks, oil tankers and blisters.

They will live on dried meals high in carbohydrate and protein and snacks including nuts and chocolate, with each of them expected to burn around 10,000 calories a day.

Ocean Rowing Society International confirmed the crew is the first mixed four to attempt the crossing and that more people have climbed Everest or been into space than rowed the Atlantic.

Mel, a yachtmaster of Leigh Woods, said: "Ideally, we will have it all paid for before the last month so that we can concentrate on upping the training to around eight hours a day.

"Using the toilet on the boat will be interesting. I think it will be a bit embarrassing the first few times but then everybody will just get on with it."

Annie, a rowing coach of Eastville, added: "For me capsizing in a storm is my worst fear because although we are tied to the boat if we are thrown from the boat it won't be easy to see us.

"We only have to complete the race to set a world record but we also want to finish in a time that is difficult to beat.

"We are hoping to get Bristol behind us. Rather than one company giving us £20,000, we are looking for lots of city companies to give us smaller donations so it's a group effort to bring a world record back to the city.

"In return we are looking to advertise the companies on the boat and will be happy to do presentations and talks on our return and are happy to discuss other options."

But before they even get started, all four of them need to raise £20,000 each to pay to hire their hi-tech 29ft boat which runs all its equipment on solar power.

Anything over £80,000 will go to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Anybody interested in supporting Annie and Mel should visit atlanticworldfirst.co.uk or contact the girls directly on 07852 198679 (Annie) or 07876 502951 (Mel).