Endurance Rower Triumphs Again

Charlotte was part of a three-strong British team of women, also including non-alums Jess Goddard and Taylor Winyard, who completed the World’s Toughest Row, a 2,800-mile race from California to Hawaii.

The trio triumphed in the ultimate test of body and mind to finish in an incredible 38 days, one hour and 34 minutes, setting the new world record for the fastest overall crossing of the mid-Pacific Ocean by any trio, male or female, beating the record held by a male group by 25 hours.

The Pacific Triow team, racing in their boat Weird Barbie, set the record despite facing a number of setbacks including salt sores, severe sleep deprivation, melting equipment and the boat capsizing three times. 

The women, who met in December 2021 while taking part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic, are no strangers to extreme challenges. Following their success, they join an elite group of athletes of only seven women in the world who have previously rowed across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 

Charlotte, whose daytime job is a Marketing Lead, said: “The most beautiful moments were the way we pulled together and found creative solutions. It wasn’t always pretty, but we made it and I’m so proud of the team.”

Explaining some of the set-backs, she added: “The first two auto-helms, which help us steer automatically, had melted because of the harsh conditions, the waves and the wind hitting us side-on.

“The thought of the last remaining auto-helm breaking was a real worry, and we had this constant level of anxiety across the ocean that it would. Especially as a trio, if we had to hand steer it would have been impossible to get the sleep we needed.

“As there were only three of us, the longest sleep we managed was two hours continuously. We were all absolutely exhausted, which made decision-making that much harder.

“The conditions were brutal, there were many tears, but we never thought of giving up. We had to be really resilient to bounce back from setbacks. But it was how we dealt with all those setbacks as a team that defined our end result – our goal was to break the world record, and we did that.”

The race started on the 8th of June from the harbour at Monterey, California, and the women crossed the finish line in Hanalei Bay, on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i, on the 16th of July.

It’s not too late to show your support. All proceeds are going to Cancer Research UK so please donate here: Pacific Triow.