FORMER England football captain David Beckham has thrown his support behind a 'truly inspirational' Hampshire soldier who is attempting to row across the Atlantic.

Hamble resident, Jack Jarvis is now more than half way through his solo-row from Portugal to Miami in a bid to raise as much money as possible for the charity, Brainstrust.

Having set off on December 3, Jack has been attempting to row around 50 miles a day for 100 days straight but now he has received support from the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star.

In a video now posted on Jack's Facebook page, Beckham wished the rower uckin his bid to reach Miami by mid-March.

He said: "I have heard all about your epic row and I wanted to wish you luck as you reach this half way point.

"What you are doing is truly inspirational and I wish you all the best as you attempt to break this world record. Good luck."

More than £7,500 has now been raised as a result of the row.

Daily Echo: Southampton man and British Soldier, Jack Jarvis.Southampton man and British Soldier, Jack Jarvis.

It is claimed that Jack is the "first person in history to attempt rowing mainland Europe to mainland USA, completely solo".

The military man hopes to raise £50,000 in total from the row and even re-mortgaged his flat to help himself make the target.

Operational costs to get to the start line of a challenge such as this are said to cost an excess of £90,000.

The soldier who, who trains on the Solent, said his motivation for taking on the challenge is to pay tribute to his late grandfather, who passed away in 2007 from a brain tumour.