An intrepid team of brothers has become the youngest and fastest trio to row across the Atlantic—all after spending 35 days, 9 hours, and 9 minutes at sea.
The MacLean brothers beat the previous world record by six days, rowing from La Gomera in Spain to Antigua in the Caribbean.
The rowing team—known as BROAR—set three world records in total by also becoming the first three brothers to row across any ocean and also the youngest trio to row across the Atlantic.
The brothers, Jamie, Ewan and Lachlan, set off from Spain on December 12th last year and last completed their 3,000-mile ocean crossing after overcoming seasickness, battery issues, storms, dehydration, and exhaustion.
They had to row the last 20 days without any music, podcasts, or audiobooks, as their iPhone cables succumbed to damage caused by sun and seawater.
Being musicians, however, they were able to keep themselves entertained with bagpipes, a harmonica, and ukulele on board.
The brothers, originally from Edinburgh, finished first among trios and third overall in this year’s Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, beating teams of four and five people.
26-year-old Jamie and 21-year-old Lachlan, students at the University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art respectively, convinced their brother Ewan, a design engineer for Dyson in Bristol, to take a sabbatical from work to make this world record attempt.
27-year-old Ewan said: “They had to twist my arm but I will be forever grateful to my brothers for convincing me to do this.
“This was, without doubt, the defining experience of my life,” he continued. “It was incredibly difficult but the way we came together, the way our bodies and minds coped with every single challenge, will stay with me for a long time.
“It definitely tested our relationship, but it was remarkable how we were able to lift each other up as we struggled.
“It’s brought us closer together, although I am looking forward to getting to see and talk to some different people.”
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Now they’ve smashed a world record, BROAR hope to reach their fundraising target of £250,000 for Feedback Madagascar and Children First. They have so far raised £112,000.
Jamie Spencer, managing director of Feedback Madagascar, said: “Ewan, Jamie and Lachlan are an amazing team—it seems like there’s nothing they can’t do.
“Their strength and determination has helped them beat this record at the same time as saving and transforming lives with every stroke. Every £5,000 raised pays for a freshwater borehole for a village in Madagascar—that’s fresh water for 3,000 people so far, and rising.”
Ewan concluded: “We don’t do things by halves, so we were always going to go for a World Record. I’m incredibly proud of beating the record, but mostly, I’m proud of the money we’ve raised for charity and the difference we’ll make to two causes very close to our hearts.”
Having set their first world records, Ewan refused to cancel out other ocean record attempts.
“Who knows what comes next,” he says. “We’ll be eyeing up other oceans.”
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