Since our last roundup, two events have begun in the Atlantic, and 39 crews are racing from the Canary Islands to either Barbados or Antigua. Three soloists are still battling across the world’s oceans.
Atlantic Ocean
World’s Toughest Row: The 2024 World’s Toughest Row — previously known as the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge — started on December 11. Thirty-eight teams and 109 rowers pushed off from Tenerife, bound for Antigua. One crew, City of Derby, had to pull out after a few hours because of technical issues.
This year’s race started a day early.
“Starting a day earlier than planned has provided relatively easy conditions so far,” race organizers said. “The calmer seas have led to fewer cases of seasickness than usual, giving crews time to start adapting to life at sea.”
Though the first few days were slightly calmer than previous years, the crews are dealing with choppy water. The southeasterly and easterly winds are impacting boats differently, depending on their position in the race. Those further south are experiencing a helpful tailwind. Meanwhile, crews who took a slightly more northerly route are deploying para-anchors to stop the wind pushing them back.
Fortunately, conditions are expected to improve in the next few days.
The current position of crews in The World’s Toughest Row Atlantic Race. Image: The World’s Toughest Row
Race statistics so far:
Leading: Row4Cancer
Leading five: Power of 1
Leading four: Row4Cancer
Leading trio: Ordinary Buoys
Leading pair: Scholarship
Leading soloist: Ocean Ways
Mission Atlantic: Organizers state that Mission Atlantic is not a race. Instead, it is “an opportunity for those who have served to come together, forging bonds of fraternity and friendship. All whilst taking on a challenge of staggering proportions, and raising thousands of pounds for charity.”
A much smaller event than The World’s Toughest Row, this is only open to military or ex-military. It does not take place annually and was last held in 2021.
Photo: Oceans Elite
Two crews are taking part: Oceans Elite (Chris Thrall and Louie Greenhalgh) and Rowing Stones (Baudouin de La Rochefoucauld, Jean Pierre Boross de Levay, Joachim d’Etigny, and Juan Dumont de Chassart).
The teams set off from Gran Canaria on December 8. They will row 5,000km to Barbados.
So far, the crews have faced tricky headwinds and choppy seas, in addition to the usual challenges of seasickness and lack of sleep. Thankfully, now over a week into the row, those difficulties are starting to subside.
The position of crews in the Mission Atlantic Event. Image: Mission Atlantic
Unsurprisingly, the four-man crew has covered slightly more ground than the pair in the first 10 days. The Rowing Stones have covered 672km to Ocean Elites 646km.
Zara Lachlan (UK): This 21-year-old is rowing from Portugal to French Guiana. If she completes the journey, she will become the first woman, and the youngest person, to row from mainland Europe to South America.
The start of the row was a struggle for Lachlan. For three weeks the weather flitted between winds so strong she had to deploy her para-anchor, and waters so calm that it felt like rowing through treacle. After almost two months, she has covered 2,100km of the 6,668km total. She is significantly behind schedule for her 90-day target.
Despite the slow start, Lachlan is feeling positive. By early December, she had left the Canary Islands and the wind picked up in her favour. Recently, she has doubled her daily mileage.
Pacific Ocean
Louis Margot (CH): Swiss adventurer Margot is now well into the fourth leg of his round-the-world journey. He is rowing across the Pacific from Peru to Hiva Oa in French Polynesia. From there, he will continue to Indonesia.
After five weeks back on the ocean, Margot has covered 1,660km, less than a tenth of his 20,000km row. Before this row, he cycled 2,500km from Switzerland to Portugal, then rowed from Portugal to Columbia, before hopping on his bike again and cycling to Peru.
Margot aims to make it around the globe in three years. If he succeeds, he will cut a whopping two years off the current record for a human-powered circumnavigation.
Margot spent the first ten days of this section of his long journey getting reacquainted with life on a boat.
“The first few days were physically intense, with pain in my hands and back, and adapting to the rhythm of life at sea. But little by little, my body is starting to get used to the minimal comfort and constant effort,” Margot said.
Margot is dealing with currents that are pushing him in the wrong direction. He needs to head west but the currents are pushing him north.
One of the biggest challenges so far is the loneliness. Other than a little bird that sat on his boat for a few hours, Margot is alone, and Indonesia seems very far away.
Aurimas Mockus (LT): Mockus is rowing from San Diego, California to Brisbane, Australia. Ten weeks in, the Lithuanian has covered just over 5,000km. He is now nearing Kiribati, the first patch of land in months.
Photo: Aurimas Mockus
Mockus has shared very few updates but is making good progress. At the end of November, he reached the 2,000 nautical miles (3,704km) milestone.
Over the last few weeks, conditions have become tricky, with gusts of wind regularly hitting 30 knots. During one such gust, his boat flipped.
“Frankly, I wouldn’t want to experience that again ever,” he wrote.
