A New Forest boat building company has a key role in a one-man expedition to conquer the fearsome waters of the Southern Ocean.

Veteran ocean rower Jim Shekhdar made worldwide headlines in 2001 when he became the first person to row across the Pacific.

Two years later he is about to set off on an even more challenging one-man trip - nearly 9,000 miles from New Zealand to Cape Town - in an 8m glassfibre rowboat built by Blondecell of Marchwood.

The two-month project to piece together the unique boat - designed to keep 56-year-old Jim safe in 20-knot winds and towering waves - has been an exciting time for Blondecell's craftsmen.

Technical manager Warwick Buckley - himself a trophy-winning veteran of the Whitbread Round the World Race - said: "We are relying on Jim's expert designer doing his calculations right, but it's good to be involved. Jim is pushing the limits of endurance, solo.

"We've built this boat to be as strong as it can be, five or ten times as strong as an ordinary boat of its size and type. But it can't shield Jim from the elements. I know from personal experience of the Southern Ocean that Jim will feel like he's living in a giant washing machine permanently set to cold wash."

But Jim can't wait to set off on his multi-marathon, unfazed by reports on former army officers Mike Noel-Smith and Rob Abernethy, whose attempt to row across the Indian Ocean ended in injury and failure this week.

"I started planning this trip two months after I got back from crossing the Pacific," said Jim, of Leamington Spa near Birmingham.

"Last time I had a close encounter with an oil tanker, but this hull is twice as strong as the one I used in 2001. It is sheathed in Kevlar - it's bullet-proof. If I hit a tanker in this, the tanker will come off worse."

Blondecell manager Colin Pipkin said they would have the as-yet unnamed rowboat ready by the weekend, and Jim is due to ship her out to New Zealand's South Island on June 19.

Visit Jim's website at www.oc2003.com.