Thame Mayor Don Butler, who crewed his brother-in-law's yacht across the Atlantic, has handed over £1,500 raised in sponsorship from his journey.

Mr Butler, a furniture manufacturer and Freemason, presented a cheque for £750 to Thame Community Hospital League of Friends, and £750 to Helen House Hospice in Oxford.

Currently in his second term as town mayor, Mr Butler said he was challenged to make the Atlantic crossing by his brother-in-law, a retired US Marines Colonel.

He said: "I must have been drunk or dizzy to accept his challenge.

"I'd never done sailing before.

"But this turned out to be a real trip of a lifetime."

The crossing, completed earlier this year, should have taken five weeks. However, it was extended to eight because of bad weather and mechanical failures.

He sailed through the Bermuda Triangle and the Bahamas to the Azores and then on to Europe.