As Great Britain's rowers prepare for the second World Cup regatta of the summer, in Munich this weekend, one of their former number is coming out of retirement to race at Henley Women's Regatta in aid of charity.

Sarah Winckless, a double world champion and Olympic bronze medal-winner in 2004, retired from the sport at the age of 35 in April, but has agreed to get back in a boat and race once more in order to raise awareness and funds for research into Huntington's Disease.

Winckless's mother suffers from the degenerative neurological illness and Winckless herself carries the defective gene that means that she will develop the disorder herself. She is patron of the Scottish Huntington’s Association and decided to get back in training with a fellow veteran oarswoman, Victoria Wood, to compete in the leading women's regatta in Britain.

They had sought to raise £10,000 for the charity, but with their first race on Saturday they have already passed £24,000 in pledges on the Just Giving charity website.

“We formed this plan just a couple of days ago”, Winckless said. “We were both tired with rowing being a joy only if you win and all the pressures that go with it. But rowing to win funding for Huntington’s is a whole new motivation. We are both moved and slightly terrified by what we have started."

Wood added: "Rowing with an old trout like me is a refreshing burst of mediocrity for her. We have both brought utter madness into the boat, and this is carried into this fundraising adventure in spades."

Winckless and Wood will compete in the elite double sculls category, with their first race against Old Collegians of Ireland at 4.53pm on Saturday. The semi-finals and final are on Sunday.

While Britain do not expect to match the nine gold medals that they won in the first World Cup regatta of the year, in Banyoles, Spain, last month, they have high hopes of remaining the nation to beat in Munich this weekend against a far stronger field. The men’s single scull, won by Alan Campbell in Banyoles, is particularly competitive with the top five from the 2008 Olympics entered. Mahe Drysdale, the triple world champion from New Zealand, did not compete in Banyoles and will aim to make up for lost time.

Katherine Grainger, the Scot who won gold on her debut in the women’s single last month, now faces the threat of Ekaterina Karsten, the double Olympic and five-times world champion from Belarus, and other finalists from Beijing. Great Britain remain the crew to beat in the men’s pair with Peter Reed, at bow, declaring that the world record is in their sights and will be favourites for the men's four and the women's double.

China have turned out in force, sending 90 athletes, including four boats in the women’s pair, three in the men's double and a brace of eights in both the men's and women's categories.

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