Since our last ocean rowing round-up, all crews have crossed the finish line in the World’s Toughest Row, and Dave Bell is still paddling across the Pacific Ocean.
Dave Bell (UK): Bell has now been at sea for three and a half months. Currently in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, he is attempting to row from Peru to Mauritius. If he makes it, he will have crossed two oceans and completed the longest known single-stage unsupported row. That means from the moment he started until the moment he is back on land, he can receive no help from anyone, cannot pause the journey, and must stay on his boat at all times.
Initially, he plans to row to Australia. Then, rather than stopping, he will continue through the Torres Strait and start paddling across the Indian Ocean. From here, he will continue on to Mauritius, covering a total of 24,000km. Bell is closing in on his halfway point, having currently rowed around 9,600km, and has been on the water for 100 days.
At the start of February, he decided to go a little slower, take longer breaks, and get slightly more sleep. After 11 weeks at sea, he needed time to recover and found that he started to enjoy the environment around him much more. He’s particularly enjoyed the number of white-tipped sharks that have been circling his boat.
The middle third is the hardest
At times over the last few weeks, the winds and current pushed him south while he was trying to move west. However, Bell said he couldn’t complain because the conditions have generally allowed for high mileage days. He is ahead of schedule and needs to cover approximately 75km a day to arrive in Mauritius within 300 days of setting off.
His biggest worry comes from previous experience. He is now heading into the middle third of his row, and he has always found this section mentally the most difficult. This section also has quite a few technical moments as he has to navigate through several islands as he comes into the Coral Sea, then through the gaps in the Great Barrier Reef, before he picks his way across the Torres Strait.
World’s Toughest Row: The 2025 World’s Toughest Row started on December 14 in the Canary Islands. Forty-three teams made up of 114 rowers pushed off from La Gomera and started rowing 4,828km across the Atlantic. Two months later, all teams have arrived in Antigua.
The overall winners of the annual race were 44West, a Swiss four-man crew who finished in 32 days, 8 hours, and 8 minutes at sea. Since that point, the finishers have been coming in regularly, often within a few hours of each other.
A 67-year-old finisher
As always, the leading boats in the race tended to be the larger crews, with soloists and pairs taking slightly longer to reach Nelson’s Dockyard. The final rower to cross the finish line was 67-year-old Alan Fortuin, this year’s oldest competitor in the race. He landed on February 11, just five hours after the previous crew. For all who take part in the row, it takes a huge physical toll, as seen in the weight rowers lose during the race. On average, each rower lost over seven kilos each.
Category Winners:
Overall Winners: 44West
Winning Four: 44West
Winning Trio: Southsea Scullers
Winning Pair: Gone Fishin
Winning Soloist: The Jasper
