Brothers set new record for 9,000-mile Pacific row

Three brothers from Edinburgh have claimed a new record for rowing non-stop and unsupported across the Pacific Ocean after almost 140 days at sea.

Jamie, Ewan and Lachlan MacLean endured violent tropical storms, which forced them into making lengthy detours on their 9,000-mile (14,484km) journey from Peru to Australia.

During one storm, Lachlan was swept overboard by a large wave before being pulled back into the boat.

The brothers, who have been reunited with their family and friends in Cairns, in eastern Australia, said they were looking forward to pizza – and a decent night’s sleep.

Ewan told BBC Breakfast: “It’s still slightly surreal – it’s going to take a wee while for our feet to touch the ground, but what an amazing reception we’ve had in Cairns.”

Jamie said the crossing had been physically and mentally “relentless”, but added: “Together we form a pretty good team, and together we’ve overcome this massive challenge.”

The Scottish trio have beaten the previous record of 162 days for the fastest full, unassisted, non-stop Pacific row, set by Russian solo rower Fyodor Konyukhov in 2014.

Their final time was 139 days, five hours and 52 minutes.

The MacLeans did much of their training in the sea near a croft they have in Assynt in the north west Highlands.

Their carbon fibre boat is called Rose Emily, in memory of their sister who died in 1996, six-and-a-half months into the pregnancy following complications.

The brothers, who have so far raised more than £700,000 of a £1m target for clean water projects in Madagascar, had hoped to complete their journey in an even quicker time.

“We left just with a dream to get across this ocean and raise as much money as we can… and it’s just been absolutely insane, all of the support,” Ewan said in an Instagram post that was published as their boat approached Cairns.

But bad weather hampered the final stretch of their journey, including high winds overnight on Thursday and Friday.

Lachlan, speaking to BBC Scotland News on Thursday, said: “The main thing on all our minds, aside from seeing family and our girlfriends, is a freshly made bed with fresh linen sheets – and a shower.”

He said the row had been going relatively smoothly before the conditions became more challenging about half way across the ocean.

Lachlan said: “Up until then we had pretty consistent wind and weather.

“Then we had an anti-cyclone we couldn’t avoid.”

During the 36-hour storm in July, Lachlan was washed overboard.

The 27-year-old said he was lucky to be attached to the boat by a safety line during 40mph (64km/h) winds and 6m (20ft) waves.

He was dragged along behind the craft before Ewan, 33, was able to help him to scramble back on board.

Lachlan told BBC Breakfast: “I was going into the cabin and this rogue wave came in from the side and I had no time to react and was washed overboard.

“It was pretty scary, I’m not going to lie.”

Later, a cyclone forced the brothers to abandon a plan to land in Brisbane and they were forced to take a detour around the remote New Caledonia archipelago to avoid the storm.

To complete the row unsupported, they could not land on an island to resupply, or accept help from any passing boats.

The brothers had to bring with them all their food – 500kg of freeze-dried food and 75kg of oats.

They had enough provisions to last 150 days, but Lachlan said they started rationing their supplies in the final few weeks just in case of further delays in reaching Australia.

Lachlan said: “We still had a reserve of military rations, but we didn’t want to tuck into them.

“They were there for an emergency, and they also don’t taste very good.”

He said the “final resort” if they ran out of all their supplies was a fishing rod they had brought with them to catch their own food.

Morale was a key concern for the rowers, with sleep deprivation one of the biggest challenges.

The brothers, who completed a record-breaking row across the Atlantic in 2020, tried to get at least five or six hours of sleep in blocks of up to three hours around long shifts at the oars.

Sharing a chocolate bar, or making each other a coffee, helped to raise their spirits.

Lachlan said: “Our super power is being brothers.

“You can be totally frank with each other and we obviously have so much shared history, and that maybe means you are less likely to fall out.”

He said their primary motivation was the fundraising, and Lachlan thanked those who had donated.

He said: “We’re absolutely blown away by how it has gone.”

While looking forward to fresh food and a comfy bed, Lachlan said he would miss nights under star-filled skies and close encounters with whales, dolphins and sea birds.

Jamie, 32, described the adventure as “the most incredible, relentless and often surreal” of his life.

He said: “While I might miss the routine, the solitude, the sunsets, and sunrises and so much more, right now I’m just very glad to be back on land with my friends and family who I’ve missed so much.

“The whole thing will take a while to sink in.”

He added: “This won’t surprise anybody – but all I want is a pizza.

“Things got tough towards the end and we seriously thought we might run out of food.

“Despite how exhausted we were, we had to step up a gear and make it before supplies ran out, but now we get to eat proper food.

Ewan added: “The days have been long and yet the weeks have flown past, it’s strange to think of the time that we’ve spent out here.

“This has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I couldn’t have even contemplated it without my brothers.”