An all-female team hopes to become the first trio to row 8,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean non-stop and unsupported to “inspire young people to feel that anything is possible”.
Miriam Payne, 24, Lottie Hopkinson-Woolley, also 24, and Jess Rowe, 27, aim to break three records with their feat, which will see them spend up to six months at sea.
The team, named Seas The Day, hopes to become the youngest group to row across the Pacific Ocean, as well as the first trio to take on the challenge non-stop and unsupported.
Along the way, the crew will encounter shipping lanes, sharks and other marine life, saying they are looking forward to “seeing sunsets and sunrises at sea” and “the simple life of rowing”, but that there will be “terrifying” elements to the challenge too.
“We just want to inspire young people to feel like anything is possible,” Miss Hopkinson-Woolley, from London, told the PA news agency.
“Breaking records is one thing but if we can inspire one or two people to go and do something they wouldn’t necessarily do, that’s way more important.
“If a child comes up to us and says we made them want to run 10k for example, that’s a big thing in itself.”
Miss Payne, from East Yorkshire, told PA: “If I had seen somebody growing up doing something like this sooner, I would have been amazed by it.
“If we can be that person to somebody else, it will be a job well done.”
The crew will set off from Peru, South America, in April 2025 and row west continually until they hit the coast of Australia, targeting Sydney Harbour.
Both Miss Rowe and Miss Payne have previous experience rowing across the Atlantic Ocean – with the latter tackling the feat solo as part of The World’s Toughest Row in 2023.
“The Atlantic wasn’t long enough, the time at sea is so amazing,” Miss Rowe, from Hampshire, told PA.
“I’m looking forward to the simple life of rowing, eating, sleeping, getting away from your phone and social media as well.
“This is like a survival challenge really because we are completely unsupported, it’s a huge ocean, we’ve got to do all of the maintenance on board.”
Miss Hopkinson-Woolley added that while each team member will have a specific role on board, “we have to trust each other with our lives”.
The challenge will be her first ocean row and she said there are “lots of excitements” to the venture.
“I’ve never done an ocean row before so seeing sunsets, sunrises, amazing night skies, there’s lot of excitements,” she said.
“But there’s also a lot of terrifying things like being in a storm in the middle of the night, you can’t see where a wave is coming from and it’s like being in a washing machine that’s malfunctioning.
“I’m looking forward to it but I’m terrified about that moment.”
Throughout the challenge, named The Great Pacific Escapade, the trio will aim to eat roughly 5,000 calories each day to keep them fuelled, including freeze-dried food.
“We’ll have about three main meals a day, which equate to about 3,000 calories,” Miss Hopkinson-Woolley said.
“Then the other 2,000 calories we’ll get from snacks, chocolate, nuts, biscuits, anything that boosts morale because the freeze-dried food is not so nice.”
Their boat has two rowing positions in the centre and two cabins at either end, which are equipped with solar panels to provide power to electronics via lithium batteries.
It also features a water maker for the team, producing around 30 litres an hour, and a bucket for a toilet – which they have named Dumpy.
The trio have partnered with and are raising funds for charity The Outward Bound Trust, which empowers young people through challenging outdoor experiences.
To find out more, visit: seasthedayoceanrowing.com
