ISLAND truck driver Jacob Benger-Pereira aims to take on one of the world's toughest oceans to row, The North Atlantic.

There have been 4,000 successful summits of Everest, and 500 people have gone into space, but there have been just 26 successful crossings of the North Atlantic by rowing boat.

Jacob will leave New York and row the 3,156 miles home to Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

Scroll down for Jacob's fundraising link...

With the unpredictability of the North Atlantic weather systems, he will inevitably encounter many big storms during the crossing accompanied by huge waves.

The first crossing of an ocean in a rowing boat was made in 1896 by two Norwegian men, George Harbo and Frank Samuelson, who set out from New York and arrived on the Isles of Scilly 55 days later.

In 1969, John Fairfax became the first person to row solo across an ocean when he arrived in Florida after setting off from the Canary Islands 180 days earlier.

Only four solo rowers have completed the original and longest crossing between New York and the UK.

The opportunity to experience nature at its rawest and the challenge it takes to survive in the environment has been stirring at Jacob for some time.

Scroll down to see Jacob’s video about the challenge

Born on the Island and moving to the Highlands of Scotland at seven, Jacob grew up with his brother using the mountains as their playground, learning how to ski in the winter months and windsurf in the summer.

Leaving home at 17, Jacob spent the next five years travelling, spending winter in the Canadian Mountains and the French Alps and summer in the Canary Islands, also spending a few summers driving an ice cream truck around Chicago.

At 22, he moved back to the Island, where he met his wife Mary, had three children, and has recently become a Grandad.

Jacob has worked as a truck driver for five years, taking waste off the Island to be recycled and bringing back goods of all kinds.

Jacob said: “My vision for this project is to bring a young minds hub to the Island, giving our youngsters another amazing support resource when they're finding life hard to cope with.”

He will also be supporting local charity CAMHS, which support young Islanders with their mental health.

This will be the story of one ordinary man taking on the extraordinary.

To support Jacob and his chosen charities visit crowdfunder here.