Impossible Row team achieve first ever row across the Drake Passage

We’re delighted to have been part of this historical journey.  Such an achievement by the whole team.

Article By Craig Glenday

Published 27 December 2019

How did you spend Christmas Day? Tucking into turkey or slurping endless eggnogs? Well, spare a thought for these six rowers, who chose to spend their festive season on the icy-cold waters of the Drake Passage, rowing between Chile and Antarctica!

A team of rowers attempting to become the first to row the Drake Passage between Cape Horn at the tip of South America and the Antarctic peninsula have been successful. The six-man crew – comprising Fiann Paul (captain), Colin O’Brady (first mate), Cameron Bellamy, Andrew Towne, Jamie Douglas-Hamilton and John Petersen – rowed for 12 days 1 hour 45 minutes, making the first completely human-powered crossing of this treacherous stretch of water.

The row and its official time was confirmed by Guinness World Records’ ocean-rowing consultants, the Ocean Rowing Society, who also congratulated the event organiser and captain, Fiann Paul, on becoming the first person to complete Ocean Explorers Grand Slam (that is, the first person to row on five oceans).

“The Impossible Row”, as the project is named, saw the team depart from Cape Horn in Chile on 13 December at 12:00 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) and arrive at Primavera Base on San Martin Land on the Antarctic Peninsula at 13:45 UTC on Christmas Day.

This row represents one of the most significant human-powered adventures ever undertaken, and a number of records were established as a result of the row:

1. First row on the Southern Ocean
2. First row across the Drake Passage
3. First row to the Antarctic continent
4. Southernmost start of a rowing expedition
5. Southernmost latitude reached by a rowing vessel
6. Youngest person to row on the Southern Ocean- Colin Timothy O’Brady (USA, b. 16 March 1985) was 34 years 272 days old at the start of the row
7. Oldest person to row on the Southern Ocean- Fiann Paul (Iceland, b. 15 August 1980) was 39 yrs 120 days old at the start of his row
8. First ocean rower to complete the Ocean Explorers Grand Slam- Fiann Paul completed a row of his fifth ocean
9. Most polar open water rows completed by a rower- Fiann Paul, with three polar rows… Further titles to be confirmed.

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