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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Scottish brothers complete record 139-day row across Pacific, calling | |
for pizza and beer on land | |
By Laura Sharman, CNN | |
Updated: | |
10:04 AM EDT, Sun August 31, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
Three Scottish brothers have made history by completing the fastest | |
unsupported non-stop row across the Pacific Ocean - the world’s | |
largest ocean - with 139 days at sea. | |
Ewan, Jamie and Lachlan Maclean rowed 9,000 miles from Peru to | |
Australia, also becoming the first team on record to successfully row | |
across from South America. | |
Surviving on freshly caught fish and freeze-dried meals, they overcame | |
seasickness, dwindling food supplies and tropical storms, including one | |
incident in which Lachlan was swept overboard by a towering wave in the | |
night. | |
On Saturday, the Edinburgh trio triumphantly stepped back onto land | |
after four-and-a-half months of aboard their self-built, F1-inspired | |
carbon fiber boat. | |
In doing so, they surpassed the previous time record crossing set by | |
Russian Fedor Konyukhov, who rowed solo from Chile to Australia in | |
2014. | |
Arriving just before midday, the brothers celebrated by playing the | |
bagpipes and waving Scottish, Australian and UK flags as they were | |
greeted by friends and family including their mother Sheila. | |
“We’ve still got our sea legs, so yeah, wobbling all over the place | |
to be honest, but very happy to be ashore,” Ewan told Australia’s | |
public broadcaster ABC, describing the experience as “pretty | |
overwhelming.” | |
Hours before, Ewan had uploaded a video on Instagram sending a message | |
to the marina. | |
“Do you have pizza and beer? I repeat, do you have pizza and beer? | |
Over.” | |
Not all smooth sailing | |
Ewan, Jamie and Lachlan set off from Peru’s capital Lima in | |
mid-April, with the initial goal of reaching Sydney by August 2. | |
But they rerouted to Cairns due to bad weather. | |
“The last couple of weeks have been really hard,” Jamie told ABC. | |
“Our expectations being crushed when we thought we were going to | |
arrive and then getting hit by storm after storm, just getting knocked | |
back, getting thrown north.” | |
It followed Lachlan’s terrifying man-overboard incident during a | |
night shift when Ewan managed to rescue him. | |
“A side-on wave came in out of nowhere. I had like a couple of | |
seconds to react and it just hit me,” Lachlan told ABC. “Took me | |
right off my feet. I kind of hit the life lines on the starboard side, | |
basically did like a backwards somersault into the water.” | |
Brotherly bond | |
Ewan, Jamie and Lachlan believe their familial bond was pivotal in | |
their mission. | |
Despite the extreme challenges, they were able to stay positive, often | |
finding moments of joy in the harshest of times. | |
“We are able to speak very directly to one another,” Jamie said | |
previously. “Good communication has been key to this journey.” | |
Their boat, named Rose Emily in honor of their sister who was lost | |
during pregnancy, is believed to be the fastest and lightest ocean | |
rowing boat ever built, created with ocean rowing legend Mark Slats. | |
Motivation | |
The Macleans embarked on the ocean crossing in pursuit of both a world | |
record and the goal of raising £1m to fund clean water projects in | |
Madagascar. | |
In 2020, they looked for a way to support charities fighting for clean | |
drinking water around the world and thought of the potential impact of | |
undertaking a big physical challenge. | |
They made the bold decision to row across the Atlantic Ocean, achieving | |
three world records in the process. They completed the 3,000-mile | |
journey in just 35 days, becoming the first trio of brothers to row any | |
ocean together and the youngest and fastest trio to cross from the | |
Canary Islands to Antigua. | |
Once back on dry land, they realized their mission for clean water was | |
not over and concluded that the best way to promote the cause was to go | |
one step further and “take on the biggest body of water on the | |
planet,” they told to on their 101st day at sea. | |
Their family-run, non-profit organization, The Maclean Foundation, | |
works to secure clean water for communities through pairing up with | |
partner organizations in Madagascar to build boreholes. | |
The Pacific challenge aims to raise awareness and funding to build | |
boreholes for the whole of the Ambohimanarina municipality in | |
Madagascar, where currently only 14% of the population has access to | |
safe, clean drinking water. The aim for the brothers is to provide | |
clean water for over 40,000 people. | |
“We want to have a positive impact on other people, that is | |
ultimately what this journey is about,” Ewan previously told CNN. | |
“Seeing the donations come in and the messages of support have really | |
helped us through some pretty bleak times.” | |
The Maclean’s mission continues, so far having raised £850,859 | |
($1.15 million) of their £1 million ($1.35 million) target for their | |
latest ocean crossing. | |
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