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Pacific rowing world record, from San Francisco to Hawaii, smashed by four women in Great Pacific Race
- Quartet set world record for rowing from San Francisco to Hawaii, arriving in 35 days
- Team Ocean Sheroes shatter record by 14 days in Great Pacific Race
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Four rowers have arrived in Hawaii from San Francisco in 35 days 12 hours and 22 minutes, becoming the fastest women to ever row the Pacific Ocean. Team Ocean Sheroes took 14 days off the women’s world record, which was 50 days. They were part of the Great Pacific Race, and came second to fellow world record-holders Latitude 35.
The team – Bella Collins, Purusha Gordon, Mary Sutherland and Lily Lower – were unsupported, carrying all their food and making drinking water using a desalinator.
They rowed in non-stop shifts – two hours on, two hours off – all day and night for the entire 4,400-kilometre crossing.
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The start of the Great Pacific Race was beset by tough onshore winds, pushing the teams back towards the coast. But Ocean Sheroes worked hard and made it into the more steady easterly winds that drove them on towards Hawaii. Still, the conditions were variable and there was rarely a consistent wind helping them on their journey. The four women were made to work for their second-place finish and world record.
Collins is no stranger to success, having set the since-broken Atlantic record in 2016. Her brother, Angus, was on board the Latitude 35 boat.
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