Pacific rower saves brother swept overboard during storm

One of three Scottish brothers who are attempting to row across the Pacific Ocean has told how he was washed overboard during a violent storm.

Lachlan MacLean, 27, said he was lucky to be attached to his boat by a safety line during 40mph (64kmh) winds and 6m (20ft) waves last week.

He was dragged along behind the craft before his brother Ewan, 33, was able to help him to scramble back on board.

Lachlan told BBC Radio Scotland's Mornings programme: "It was pretty scary. There are no second chances out here."

Edinburgh's Lachlan, Ewan and 31-year-old Jamie are past the half way point in their attempt to complete the fastest ever non-stop and unsupported row from Peru to Sydney in Australia.

The brothers, who previously rowed the Atlantic Ocean in 35 days, have been rowing for more than 90 days and have about 2,000 miles (3,217km) left to go.

Lachlan said being washed overboard was one of the scariest experiences of his life.

He was swapping rowing duties with Ewan when it happened on the second night of a storm that raged 36 hours.

"I was about to go into the cabin when I was hit by a big side-on wave," said Lachlan.

"Fortunately, I was tethered to the boat.

"I was trailing behind for a bit and was really disorientated. Ewan helped me to scramble back into the boat."

He added: "It is the first time I have been in a boat and felt totally at the mercy of the sea."

Lachlan said: "The boat we have is designed to be tossed upside down and then right itself.

"We didn't capsize, but had three knock downs.

"That's halfway to capsizing and then it goes the right way again."

The brothers, who are nearing Tonga, had hoped to complete their row in 120 days - 42 days quicker than the record.

The anticyclone, which sees air move in an anti-clockwise direction, took them in a different direction than they wanted to go.

They built their boat along with experts with technology used by Formula 1 teams to manufacture the 280kg (44 stone) carbon fibre vessel.

The trio, from Edinburgh, made headlines in January 2020 when they rowed across the Atlantic Ocean to set a new record.

They became the first three brothers to row any ocean and also took the record for the youngest trio and the fastest trio to ever row the Atlantic - but their record of 35 days, nine hours and nine minutes was beaten by two hours in 2023.

Last month Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg told the brothers their Pacific Ocean rowing record attempt should be made into a film.

He has spoken twice to the brothers during their challenge by satellite phone.

Wahlberg was made aware of the record attempt by his personal assistant, who has a friend who met Jamie at a wedding he was playing bagpipes at.

The brothers are using the challenge to try to raise £1m for clean water projects in Madagascar.