ATLANTIC
First row
On 6 Jun 1896, Norwegians George Harbo and
Frank Samuelsen left New York City, USA, in an
18-ft-long (5.48-m) boat and rowed to the Isles
of Scilly, UK. They arrived 55 days later, on 1 Aug,
having rowed 2,841 nautical mi* (5,262 km).First row across any ocean solo (female)
Victoria “Tori” Murden (USA) arrived on the
island of Guadeloupe on 3 Dec 1999, having
crossed the Atlantic from Tenerife in the Canary
Islands in her 7-m (23-ft) boat. During a straight-
line 2,575-nautical mi (4,770-km) journey lasting
81 days 7 hr 31 min, Murden faced 80-mph
(129-km/h) gusts of wind and 20-ft (6.1-m) waves.Fastest solo row (female)
Anne Quéméré (FRA) travelled from La Gomera
to Guadeloupe in 56 days 10 hr 9 min from 26 Dec
2002 to 21 Feb 2003. Quéméré covered a straight-
line distance of 2,560 nautical mi (4,741 km),
beating the record time set by Tori Murden in 1999.
The fastest solo row (female, east to west,
open class) was achieved by Elaine Hopley
(UK) between 14 Dec 2016 and 12 Feb 2017.
Raising money for charity, Hopley rowed from
La Gomera to Antigua in 59 days 19 hr 14 min.Longest distance rowed in 24 hours
Between 23:00 GMT on 12 Jun 2015 and
23:00 GMT on 13 Jun, Tom Hudson (UK) and
Pete Fletcher (AUS) rowed 116.76 nautical mi
(216.24 km) on board Macpac Challenger. The
record was set during a transatlantic row
from New York City, USA, to Falmouth, UK.Fastest row east to west
(all‑female, team of four)
Team Row Like a Girl – Lauren Morton, Bella
Collins, Georgina Purdy and Olivia Bolesworth
(all UK) – rowed from La Gomera to Antigua
in 40 days 8 hr 26 min, from 20 Dec 2015 to
29 Jan 2016. They averaged a speed of
2.63 knots (4.87 km/h; 3.02 mph)
on board Mrs Nelson.First team to cross any
ocean by kayak
Hungarian duo Levente
Kovácsik and Norbert
Ádám Szabó paddled the
Atlantic Ocean from Huelva
in Spain, via Gran Canaria,
to Antigua in the West
Indies in their kayak Kele
between 21 Oct 2015
and 30 Jan 2016.Ocean Rowing
ADVENTURES
OCEAN ROWING
SOCIETY
INTERNATIONAL
The Ocean Rowing
Society (UK) was
established in
1983 by Kenneth F
Crutchlow and Peter
Bird, later joined by
Tom Lynch (USA),
Tatiana Rezvaya–
Crutchlow and Chris
Martin (both UK). It
keeps a record of all
attempts to row the
oceans and major
bodies of water such
as the Tasman and
Caribbean seas,
as well as rows
around Great Britain.
The society also
classifies, verifies and
adjudicates ocean-
rowing achievements.First person to row two
oceans in one year:
Livar Nysted (FRO)
2013 : A, E>W; I, E>WOldest person to row any ocean (male)
Peter Smith (ATG, b. 17 May 1941) was 74 years
217 days old when he began rowing the Atlantic
east to west from La Gomera in the Canary
Islands to Antigua in a team of four on board
Wa’Omoni. The row lasted 52 days 9 hr 9 min,
from 20 Dec 2015 to 10 Feb 2016.MID-PACIFIC
Fastest row east to west (Classic Four)
Between 5 Jun and 14 Jul 2016, Uniting
Nations – Fiann Paul (ISL, b. POL see opposite),
Thiago Silva (BRA), Cyril Derreumaux and Carlo
Facchino (both USA) – crossed the Mid-Pacific
in 39 days 12 hr 20 min. Their average speed was
2.21 knots (4.09 km/h; 2.54 mph) on Danielle.Oldest male to row in the Mid-Pacific
Greg Vlasek (USA, b. 30 Dec 1955) was 60 years
158 days old at the start of his east-to-west row
from Monterey in California, USA, to Diamond
Head in O’ahu, Hawaii, USA. He rowed as part
of a team of four on board Isabel from 5 Jun
to 23 Jul 2016.Fastest row east to west (Classic Pair)
Louis Bird (UK) and Erden Eruç (USA/TUR) rowed
from Monterey to Hawaii, USA, in 54 days 3 hr
45 min. Their journey on board Yves lasted from
5 Jun to 29 Jul 2016, and had an average speed
of 1.61 knots (2.98 km/h; 1.85 mph).Fastest row east to west
(Classic Pair, all‑female)
Rowing team Fight the Kraken – Vicki Otmani
and Megan Biging (both USA) – covered
2,090 nautical mi (3,870 km) in 57 days 16 hr
9 min between 5 Jun and 31 Jul 2016 on board
Sedna. They travelled from Monterey, California,
USA, to O’ahu, Hawaii, at an average speed of
1.51 knots (2.79 km/h; 1.73 mph).Fastest row east to west
(Mixed Pair, open class)
Riaan Manser and Vasti Geldenhuys (both ZAF)
rowed from Monterey to O’ahu in 39 days 4 hr
46 min. They averaged a speed of 2.22 knots
(4.11 km/h; 2.55 mph) between 15 Jun and
23 Aug 2016 on Honeymoon.Fewer people have successfully rowed an ocean than have reached
the summit of Mount Everest.FIRST TEAM TO ROW THE ATLANTIC EAST TO WEST FROM
EUROPE TO SOUTH AMERICA, MAINLAND TO MAINLAND
Between 7 Feb and 28 Mar 2016, the five-man crew of Ellida –
comprising Matt Bennett, Oliver Bailey, Aldo Kane, Jason Fox and
Ross Johnson (all UK) – rowed 3,335 nautical mi (6,176 km) from
Lagos in Portugal to Carúpano in Venezuela in 50 days 10 hr 36 min.
The self-styled “rogues of ocean rowing” met while serving in the
UK armed forces. They set out on their epic voyage in the hope of
raising £250,000 ($353,450) for a children’s charity.Ocean rowing’s
absolute firsts:Q: How many ocean rows
had been successfully
completed as of Mar 2017?
A: 452, according to the ORSKey:
A = Atlantic
I = Indian
P = Pacific
E = East
W = WestFirst ocean row:
George Harbo,
Frank Samuelsen
(both NOR, see left)
1896 : A, W>EFirst person to row
an ocean solo:
John Fairfax (UK)
1969 : A, E>WFirst person to
row two oceans:
John Fairfax (UK)
1969 : A, E>W
1971–72: P, E>WFirst woman to
row an ocean:
Sylvia Cook (UK)
1971–72: P, E>WFirst person to row
the Pacific solo:
Peter Bird (UK)
1982–83: P, E>WFirst person to row
two oceans solo:
Gérard d‘Aboville (FRA)
1980 : A, W>E
1991 : P, W>EFirst woman to row
two oceans:
Kathleen Saville (USA)
1981 : A, E>W
1984–85: P, E>WFirst woman to
row an ocean solo:
Tori Murden (USA)
1999 : A, E>WFirst person to
row three oceans:
Erden Eruç (USA/TUR)
2006 : A, E>W
2007–10: P, E>W
2010 : I, E>WFirst woman to
row three oceans:
Roz Savage (UK)
2006 : A, E>W
2008–10: P, E>W
2011 : I, E>W*1 nautical mi = 1.15 mi (1.85 km)Classic‑class boat
V-shaped hull; more
cover for crew;
blown less by wind;
relatively stable.
“Classic Pair” and
“Classic Four” denote
the number of rowers
in this class of boat.Open‑class boat
Flatter-bottomed
hull; less cover for
crew; blown more by
wind; less stableMid-Pacific
Usually, a row
between California
and Hawaii or from
South America to
a mid-ocean island