The three Maclean brothers from Edinburgh, Ewan, Jamie and Lachlan, have set off from Peru on their 14,000km row across the Pacific.
They aim to land in Sydney around 2 August just before the British & Irish Lions’ third test.
This is the second ocean-going expedition they have undertaken – but last time it was a race with many boats involved – and support. This time they are going it alone in their custom made carbon fibre boat named Rose Emily in memory of the sister none of them ever met. There will be no resupplies or safety boat to rescue them, but they do have a satellite internet connection on board.
Their journey began with a brass band and bagpipes but they will now go it alone on their 280 kg boat with more than 500 kg of freeze-dried food prepared by Jamie in his old school kitchen and then preserved with the professional help of Dundee farm, Arbuckles. They have chilli, Thai red curry and also haggis, neeps and tatties on board for Lachlan’s 27th birthday in June.
The Rare Whisky 101 Pacific Row aims to raise over £1 million (approx. $1.25m USD) for The Maclean Foundation — the clean water charity the brothers founded with their father, whisky writer Charles Maclean MBE. The Foundation has already helped fund boreholes for more than 5,000 people in Madagascar.
When they took part in the Atlantic Challenge they won the race as the fastest and youngest trio to row across the Atlantic. After landing in Antigua they raised more than £200,000 for charity.
A film of their 2020 endeavours made by film makers, Lost Clock, showed the brothers as a bit naive and a little unprepared, but this time they have trained with elite sport performance consultant Chloe Lanthier who counts Raphael Nadal among her clients. She made the brothers do the capsize drill preparing them for 30 feet waves that they might face, and they will stick to a two hour shift system to propel them towards Australia.
The night before departure the brothers stayed up alll night to fix their on board water maker. Ewan Maclean, 33, a former Dyson engineer, said: “When the watermaker broke I thought the game was up – we couldn’t find another part, but thankfully I managed to fix it. All those years working as an engineer have come in handy.
“We usually forget things when we’re going away for the weekend, so preparing for 120+ days at sea has not been without its challenges. But here we are, and we’re so happy to be on the water.
“During our last row, we started thinking about how we could spend more time at sea and help more people, and this daft challenge was born.
“The more we looked into rowing the Pacific, the more we realised why so few attempt it – you have to bring an awful lot of food to sustain yourselves for that period of time, which gets pretty heavy. And it’s an awful long time. But if we want to raise a million pounds for a cause that means so much to us, we had to go for something big.
“During our visits to Madagascar, we’ve seen what access to clean water can do — it helps kids get an education, helps entire communities thrive. That’s what drives us.”
Jamie Maclean, 31, added: “We never got to meet our sister, but she’s always been part of our family. We wanted to honour that.
“Our mum hand-painted her name, Rose Emily, on the back of the boat — so she’s with us every mile. In the quiet moments — and there will be plenty, assuming Ewan and I can find somewhere to hide Lachlan’s accordion — we’ll know she’s right there.
“We know this will be hard for Mum and Dad, having all three of us isolated at sea. But they’ve been incredibly supportive. They’ve worked just as hard as we have to prepare — and we can’t wait to see them when we row into Sydney Harbour.”
Lachlan Maclean, who will turn 27 at sea, said: “I’m still shaking. I can’t believe the buzz of leaving that atmosphere. I’ve never heard bagpipes alongside a brass band before, but I think it could catch on.
“We’ve been like coiled springs this past month. Being stuck with our boat and food held in customs could have been incredibly stressful — but the team at Yacht Club Peruano gave us a place to sleep, store our gear and stay sane.
“Now we’re just excited to be on the water. It’s definitely daunting, but we’ve prepared so long that we’re desperate to get going. In many ways we’re a bit weird – I’m probably happier on the water. I’ve never been good at replying to emails, and now I have the best excuse in the world.”
Follow their journey and support the campaign at www.themacleanbrothers.com.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
