A fortnight after rescuing two Irish rowers, merchant vessel Hispania Spirit, has picked up another pair from the ill-fated Atlantic Rowing Race.

Bristol brothers Duncan and Gareth Pearson were found by their capsized vessel Serenity Now after triggering their EPIRB on Tuesday afternoon. The bulk carrier picked them up on Wednesday while en route to Trinidad and Tobago.

Two weeks earlier the Spanish carrier ship had picked up Gearoid Towey and Ciaran Lewis from particularly rough seas, which had caused two other capsizes on the same day. While the others were able to continue, Gearoid and Ciaron had lost their steering mechanism and were unable to right the boat.

The high-profile race from the Canaries to Antigua sparked a media frenzy when Olympic rower James Cracknell and TV star Ben Fogle announced their intention to race naked. They went on to win the pairs class last week, having survived a capsize which trapped Cracknell in the cabin and hurled Fogle into the water. ‘It was the scariest experience of my life,’ said Fogle, after battling against waves the size of houses.

Serenity Now is the sixth boat to retire from the event, which has seen countless capsizes, a recovery effort by tall ship Stavros S Niarchos, and a prolonged shark attack that caused irreparable damage to the hull.