Since our last ocean rowing round-up, Louis Margot has restarted his round-the-world challenge, a father-son duo is aiming to break a world record, and the World’s Toughest Row is underway.
Pacific Ocean
The World’s Toughest Row race started on June 6, the counterpart to the company’s annual Atlantic Race. Compared to the more common Atlantic route (from the Canary Islands to Antigua), this route sees fewer rowers. Before the race’s inception, only 33 crews had rowed from mainland America to Hawaii.
This year, four teams have entered and are battling 4,500km across the mid-Pacific from Monterey, California, to Hanalei Bay, Hawaii.
Organizers brought the race’s start date forward by a day to take advantage of good weather and to give crews the best possible start. Despite this, the first few days are always tricky. Crews battled wind and currents that pinned them to the coastline.
The leading boat is the four-man Swiss Raw. They have covered 1,550km and pulled away from the other crews. Swiss Raw won the 2022 Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge (as it was then named), coming in a full day before any other boat. Ocean5, Oar the Rainbow, and RangeOars Row are much closer together, having covered 1,055km, 1,011km, and 900km, respectively.
Ten days into the row, the teams are coping well, despite some problems. The crew of Oar The Rainbow is suffering from knee and shoulder pains, but is pushing through. RangeOars Row is having power issues; it has been cloudy, which is affecting their batteries. Swiss Raw had broken seat bearings. Ocean5 has battled severe seasickness, which finally seems to be abating.
Around the world
Louis Margot (CH) – Swiss adventurer Louis Margot restarted his Human Impulse project on June 1. Margot is rowing across the Pacific Ocean as part of a human-powered, round-the-world expedition. On Sept. 3, 2023, he started cycling a 2,500km route from Switzerland to Portugal. From there, he rowed for 115 days to Colombia, then jumped back on his bike and cycled 4,030km to Peru in 62 days. There, he took a two-month break.
On November 12, Margot began rowing from Peru to Indonesia, with a planned pitstop in the Marquesas Islands to restock and make repairs. He landed on Hiva Oa (the second largest of the Marquesas Islands) on March 9. Margot later said that the row from Peru had been the most exhausting stage of his expedition.
He was in Hiva Oa slightly longer than expected, waiting for various deliveries and making boat repairs. To keep busy while waiting, he signed up for a marathon on the island.
After two-and-a-half months on Hiva Oa, he restarted his row to Indonesia. During the first few days, the waves threw him around, but conditions have settled. This is the final rowing section of the project, and one of the largest, with 11,638km to Indonesia. After 72 hours rowing, he could no longer see Hiva Oa and knew it would be a very long time until he saw land again. The prospect of five months on the ocean, completely alone, is a daunting one.
Peru to Sydney
Seas the Day (UK) – Jess Rowe and Miriam Payne are rowing from Peru to Sydney. They first set off in April but had to abandon their attempt after 480km when their rudder broke.
In May, they started again and have covered 3,550km of the 14,000km journey. Since restarting, there has been one big ongoing issue: power. Initially, they thought heavy cloud cover was affecting their solar-powered batteries, but even when the sun was out, they didn’t work properly. They have tried tinkering with the batteries but without much luck, and are having to hand steer most of the time.
The pair is making great progress and staying upbeat despite five weeks of rowing, but the salt sores, blisters, and sleep deprivation are starting to take their toll. One thing keeping them going is the amazing sights, particularly a huge whale that surfaced just meters from the boat.
The Maclean Brothers (UK) – Ewan, Jamie, and Lachlan McLean are also rowing from Peru to Australia. Nine weeks into their journey, they have covered approximately 7,700km of the 14,000km. Crossing the halfway mark was a huge moment for the brothers.
They have rowed together before, breaking the trio speed record crossing the Atlantic in 2020.
At the start of May, they began having issues with their autopilot. Its compass kept forgetting which way was north. During this time, they manually steered the boat while the autopilot corrected itself. Then, at the end of May, they had trouble with their watermaker and storage tank.
The last few weeks have been frustrating with the boat “wiggling around like a worm in the ocean” because of changeable winds and currents. To keep them going, the brothers have surprise snack packs filled with sweets and chocolates that they crack open when they need a lift. They also had an unexpected video call from actor Mark Wahlberg, who has been following their row and wanted to spur them on.
Father and son duo
Tame the Kraken (US) – Father-and-son duo Tim and Harrison Crockett are rowing 3,700km across the Pacific from Sausalito, California, to Hilo, Hawaii. They hope to set a speed record by crossing in 45 days. Yet it could take them up to two months, depending on the weather conditions.
Tim Crockett has previously rowed the Atlantic as a soloist in the 2018 World’s Toughest Row (then the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge).
Tim and Harrison Crockett. Photo: Team Kraken
The pair started on June 3, and getting used to the exhaustion of rowing for hours at a time was a struggle. Exhaustion combined with strong winds forced them onto their para-anchor after just two days.
Their difficulties did not stop there. In the first week, their autohelm broke, but they were able to fix it. They also had hair-raising moments when, on back-to-back days, their AIS alarm signaled huge container ships on a collision course with them. Both ships eventually changed course once advised that they were heading for a tiny rowing boat.
Indian Ocean
Ocean Revival (UK) – Matthew Mason, Jake Mattock, Matthew Inglesby, and Mathew Hemmings are rowing 8,500km from Australia to Tanzania. After just over a month, they have covered 3,375km.
Trade winds have forced them on a more northerly route to avoid poor weather. It might not be the most direct route, but it seems to have worked. Other than trouble with the wind, the heat has been brutal, with consistent temperatures of around 35°C.
At the start of June, a storm forced them onto their para-anchor for a few days. This trapped them in their cabins in the sweltering heat. In case of a capsize, their hatches were closed, making the heat even worse.
Untamed (BG, NL, CN, UA) – A second independent foursome is attempting to row from Australia to mainland Africa. Evgeny Sudyr, Liu Yong, Ralph Tuijn, and Stefan Ivanov are rowing 9,000km from the west coast of Australia to Kenya.
They were aiming to finish in 75 days, but this seems unlikely. After 30 days, they have covered 3,120km. They are maintaining a good pace, but the Indian Ocean is notoriously tricky, even with their experienced team. Tujin has made 12 ocean crossings, Ivanov has made successful crossings of the Atlantic, Southern, and part of the Arctic Ocean, and Yong has rowed the Atlantic.
The Untamed team. Photo: Untamed
Technical problems are another reason for their slower-than-expected pace. First, their watermaker broke, though Sudyr and Ivanov fixed this after a few hours playing around with a tangle of cables. Then, just days later, they ran out of power. Every system went down, and steering and navigation became manual tasks. The power cut began at night, and fortunately, the problem rectified itself once the sun returned.
One day later, Yong broke out in a full-body rash. They have not disclosed what caused this or how it was rectified, but did say Yong stopped rowing until their medical team said he could continue.
Their run of bad luck did not end there. The very next day, their rudder broke at 4 am. After drifting along until daylight, they were able to fit their spare rudder.
Around Britain
52 Degrees North (IE/UK) – The three-man crew of David Irving (IE), Rod Tredgett (UK), and Scott Brown (UK) is rowing 2,700km around Great Britain. The trio started from Tower Bridge on June 9 in a clockwise direction. They have covered the first 100km of the route along the south coast of England.
Within days, challenging weather forced them onto their para-anchor for 48 hours. Rowing around Great Britain might seem simple when compared to an ocean crossing, but the UK has powerful tidal currents and ever-changing conditions. You can only row during tidal windows and have to navigate the coastline and several busy shipping lanes.
