World’s toughest row begins in the Pacific

The World’s Toughest Row - Pacific 2024 has officially begun! Nine incredible teams from seven different countries took off from Monterey Harbor on June 8 embarking on their epic 2800-mile journey towards Hanalei Bay, Kaua, Hawaii.

The teams have chosen different strategies in terms of direction. Some teams went straight south from the start, while others took a more northerly route. It will be interesting to see which strategy works best.

The first week is always slightly slower with updates from the ocean as the teams get adjusted to the new routines, deal with seasickness, fatigue, and try to maintain their food and hydration intake.

This means the use of the BGAN (the unit they use to send back content) is less frequent. Several teams have reported sightings of wildlife, including whales, orcas, sea lions, seals, and even a shark!

The dominant weather for the fleet has been NNW winds pushing down along the coastline at consistent speeds of around 15 -20 knots with stronger gusts. These are relatively cold waters, which means not only is the rowing hard but life on board is particularly challenging. With this has come beam seas and waves of around 2.5m.

In the longer term, the forecast shows winds dropping again and as crews move more W and S, conditions improve and they will get more assistance on the route to Kaua’i.

For Rowing Ocean 4 Women (USA), it was an eventful few days after the start for Kaitlyn and the two sisters Gabe and Megan on board their R45 boat Julie. After consulting with the Safety Officers throughout the night, the team has made the difficult but right decision to head back to land and withdraw from the race.