Scottish brothers establish world record rowing over Pacific, now fancy pizza and beer
Three Scottish brothers have sailed the Pacific Ocean in a new world record per rowing boat. In 139 days, five hours and 52 minutes they rowed from Peru to Australia. They covered the 14,500 kilometers non-stop without help.
Jamie, Ewan and Lachlan Maclean arrived on a bagpipe in Cairns, in northeastern Australia. They waved with the Scottish, Australian and British flag and with torches. On the quay they were greeted by dozens of relatives, friends and fans.
Proud and joy among the three Scottish brothers after completing their rowing ride over the ocean:
With their journey, the brothers from Edinburgh raised 700,000 pounds (more than 800,000 euros) in sponsor money for projects for clean water in Madagascar. Their aim is to get 1 million pounds (1.16 million euros) together.
On the way they passed violent storms, so that they had to make a big detour and not to Brisbane, their original destination. They also had to contend with seasickness and injuries. Lachlan, with 27 years the youngest of the three, rinsed overboard during fierce bad weather that lasted 36 hours. He could be saved thanks to the Safety Line with which he was stuck.
The brothers broke the old record of 162 days, which was established in 2014 by the Russian adventurer Soloroeier Fjodor Konjoekov, who still fly the record non-stop around the world in a has in your pocket.
Pizza and beer
In the hours before their arrival, the oldest brother, Ewan (33) informed the port that they were coming. In a movie he asked: “Do you have pizza and beer? I repeat, you have pizza and beer, over.” They also longed for a shower and a clean bed.
He said that the rowing trip was the toughest he had ever done and that he could not have been able to do it without his brothers. “We cried with happiness and laughed at our cheeks very much,” he said. According to brother Jamie (31) it was still exciting at the end. “We thought we wouldn’t have enough food.”
The three say that the journey has changed their view of life. They are planning to continue raising money for cleaning water projects.