All-female trio aims to row non-stop across Pacific unsupported

An all-female team is aiming to become the first trio to row across the Pacific Ocean non-stop and unsupported.

Miriam Payne and Lottie Hopkinson-Woolley, both 24, and Jess Rowe, 27, are hoping to break three records when they undertake the challenge next year.

The 8,000-mile journey will see the trio spend up to six months at sea.

The team, named Seas The Day, is also aiming to become the youngest group to row across the Pacific Ocean.

Ms Rowe, from Hampshire, said: "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."

The crew will set off from Peru, South America, in April 2025 and will row west continually until they hit the coast of Australia.

"We just want to inspire young people to feel like anything is possible," Ms Hopkinson-Woolley, from London, said.

Miriam Payne, from Market Weighton in East Yorkshire, added ""If I had seen somebody growing up doing something like this sooner, I would have been amazed by it."

Both Ms Rowe and Ms Payne have previous experience rowing across the Atlantic Ocean.

"The Atlantic wasn't long enough, the time at sea is so amazing," Miss Rowe, said.

Along the way, the crew - who will encounter shipping lanes, sharks and other marine life - said they are looking forward to "seeing sunsets and sunrises at sea" and "the simple life of rowing", but added that there will be "terrifying" elements to the challenge too.

Throughout the challenge, named The Great Pacific Escapade, the trio will be raising money for charity The Outward Bound Trust.

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