Record-breaking rowers face eating raw fish as they battle Pacific

Times

10 hours ago

Three Scottish brothers who are attempting to break the world record for the fastest unsupported row across the Pacific Ocean ​s​ay they face eating raw fish​ straight from the sea​ as their food rations are dwindling.
Four months into their attempt, Ewan,​ 33, Jamie,​ 31, and Lachlan Maclean​, 27, said ​they would have to start fishing from their boat after a series of 'nightmare' delays depleted their limited food supplies.
Since April the trio have been using a gas-powered stove to heat and rehydrate meals ​but it is likely to run out of fuel shortly. Requesting fresh provisions​ would disrupt their record attempt.
'The last month has been so hard because the weather has been fighting against us, we're on a knife-edge now,' Lachlan Maclean said.
'We have a fishing rod to use as emergency backup if we run out of food, but if we were to catch fish, we would have to eat them raw.'
It has been four months since the brothers from Edinburgh embarked on the 14,000km row from Peru to Australia to raise £1 million for clean water projects in Madagascar.
They have been rowing in two-hour shifts around the clock in an attempt to become the first team to row the Pacific Ocean nonstop and completely unsupported.
​T​hey have already raised more than £590,000 and drawn widespread support from celebrities such as the actors Mark Wahlberg and Ewan McGregor, the rugby star Blair Kinghorn and Flea, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist.
The voyage is the second rowing challenge by the Macleans to make headlines. In 2020, the brothers broke three world records when they crossed the Atlantic Ocean, despite never having rowed seriously before.
The brothers, who credit their holistic Steiner schooling with giving them an appetite for adventure, made the journey in 35 days, nine hours and nine minutes, beating the previous record by almost a week.
However, despite their formidable record at sea, the Macleans admit that their latest feat is the hardest thing they have ever done. They have been forced to shelter from a cyclone and battle against northern winds that threaten to push them above Australia and towards Papua New Guinea.
The brothers had to row three-up for 14 hours straight just to skirt New Caledonia, while dodging storms, reefs, marlins and sharks.
However, they are adamant that they are remaining 'chipper' aboard their specially designed carbon-fibre vessel.
Lachlan said: 'The flipside of hardship of like this is that fundraising always goes better when you're suffering a bit. Over the past month our campaign has really taken off so that's been keeping our morale really high in these challenging moments.'