TWO brothers planning to row the Atlantic have named their boat after a skin cancer victim whose death has prompted their epic challenge.

Greg Bailey and Jude Massey are due to journey from Gran Canaria to Barbados in January next year in a bid to raise £100,000 for the British Skin Foundation.

The Lymington sailors, who call themselves the Ocean Brothers, are making the gruelling 3,000-mile voyage in memory of businessman Peter Massey - Jude’s father and Greg’s stepfather.

And they have named their tiny 20ft boat Pete in honour of Mr Massey, who died aged 63 in August 2015 after battling skin cancer for 16 years.

“We felt the name Pete was most appropriate," they said.

“Pete really enjoyed watersports, having fun in the sun and going on long ventures on his fishing boat. We wanted to name the boat Pete to show our respect for him and to have him with us during our trans-Atlantic crossing. He will be part of the journey.”

Mr Massey’s widow, Alexandra, added: “Pete would have been humbled at the boys’ boat being named after him.

“He might also have said they were mad but he would have been immensely proud too - as I am.”

The Ocean Brothers are staging a series of events that aim to promote the voyage and attract the sponsorship they need to ensure they hit their fundraising target.

On Sunday they rowed from Lymington to Yarmouth where their boat will go on show to the public until September 14. They will then take part in the Southampton Boat Show before rowing from Lymington to London, starting on October 9.

Meanwhile, sponsorship is continuing to come in.

Jude, 18, and Greg, 26, are celebrating a £15,000 donation from AproDerm, part of Fontus Health, which makes a range of skin care products.

The two sailors said: “After seeing Peter suffer for such a long time, we really want to make a difference by funding skin cancer research so that other families don’t have the same sad experience we did. The money from AproDerm goes a long way to helping us achieve that goal.”

The Ocean Brothers have received £5,000 of equipment from Southampton-based Ocean Safety. As reported in the Daily Echo, they have also received £15,000 from the Skin Health Alliance and more than £1,000 from Lymington Yacht Haven.