WORLD’S TOUGHEST ROW 2025

Rowing the Atlantic

The Challenge: Rowing Solo 3,000 Across The Atlantic

The World’s Toughest Row is the premier event in ocean rowing. A challenge that will take me more than 3,000 Miles west from San Sebastian in La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain (28°N 17°W) to Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour, Antigua & Barbuda (17°N 62°W).
The annual race begins in early December, with up to 40 teams participating from around the world.

Marina with multiple racing boats docked, event flags flying, spectators on the dock, and hills in the background at sunset.

An ocean rowing boat solo rower leaves the marina to start rowing in the World's Toughest Row. Approaching a dock with a large banner that reads 'World's Toughest Row 3,000 Miles to Go.' A crowd of people is gathered on the dock, watching the boat.

View through a hatch showing a person on a boat adjusting equipment, with a rocky hillside, trees, and partly cloudy sky in the background.

Ocean Rowing Rowing boats lined up at the marina at La Gomera the start of the World's Toughest Row 2025 with flags in the background, taken during daytime.

Miriam Payne solo rower, rowing in with turbulent waves across the Atlantic and a partly cloudy sky in the background.

An ocean rowing boat with solar panels on its front is moving through choppy ocean waters. The boat is directed towards the viewer, with the ocean and a cloudy sky in the background.

EAT, SLEEP, ROW, KNIT, REPEAT

The race structure brings together an environment where teams from across the globe gather in the race village, San Sebastian in La Gomera, Canary Islands. The atmosphere is electric as people help each other prepare for the challenge of the mighty Atlantic Ocean; all with the same objective – to take on the unique experience of crossing an ocean in a rowing boat.

This extreme endurance race presents a formidable challenge to me, as I row unsupported across the Atlantic, pushing myself to my physical and mental limits. Competitors confront the immense power of Mother Nature, often struggling against the ocean's forces.

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WORLD’s TOUGHEST ROW 2025 FACTS:

I will row in excess of 1.5 million oar strokes over the period of my solo Atlantic row.
Solo ocean rowers have the option to do a shift pattern (2 hours on 2 hours off) per 24 hours or I can do longer stretches of rowing anywhere up to 18 hours a day!
I will experience waves that can measure up to 40ft/12m high. At its deepest, the Atlantic Ocean is 5.28 miles/8.5km deep.
Ocean rowers can expect to see lots of wildlife, such as Minke and Pilot whales, Dolphins, Turtles, Flying fish and of course the Blue Marlin, whose bills have previously pierced through hulls of ocean rowing boats!
To date, the World’s Toughest Row has raised over €19 million for various charitable causes through the efforts of its teams and participants.
I'll have a satellite phone which enables me to contact land support and VHF to contact passing boats in the event of an emergency. Two land-based duty safety officers are on-hand 24/7.
I should aim to consume 10 litres of water per day. I will need to filter water from the ocean by using a desalinator. Rowers burn in excess of 6,000 calories per day. Each rower loses on average 12 kg crossing the Atlantic.
Each rower is expected to use 800 sheets of toilet paper during their crossing. There is no toilet on board – rowers use a bucket!
All rubbish must be stowed on board and taken to the finish destination. Polluting the ocean is not acceptable in the ocean rowing community.

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Extended hand with peeling skin, viewed in front of a body of water and a cloudy sky.

Two dolphins swimming near the surface of the ocean, seen from a boat, with a portion of the boat's edge visible in the lower corner.

A woman with a colorful headband and yellow long-sleeve shirt on a boat, smiling at the camera while preparing food packets, with a person in a blue hat and white jacket in the background, on the open ocean under a partly cloudy sky.

Person lying down on an ocean rowing boat, view from their perspective, with their legs and feet visible. The boat's equipment and ropes are visible, with an ocean and cloudy sky in the background.

A black bucket with a white graphic of a person sitting on a toilet and reading, along with the text 'Please keep this bucket clean, it's all we have.'

A woman smiling and holding onto a red handrail is in the ocean near a boat, with a partly cloudy blue sky in the background.

WHAT IS IT REALLY LIKE TO ROW THE ATLANTIC?

rowers can face 😬

🌊 40-foot/12m waves
🌬️ 40mph winds
🥵 Up to 40°C heat

World's Toughest Row 2025 Map showing the rowing route across the Atlantic Ocean from Nelson's Dockyard in Antigua to the Canary Islands, marking a 3,000-mile journey for the Atlantic 2025 race.

MEET ‘Tuc TUC’ -TTHIS 7 METRE ocean rowing boat
will be MY home for 60 PLUS days

Diagram of an ocean rowing boat with solar panels on top, an 'office' area, a satellite phone, a bucket loo, stored food in boat hull, a water maker/desalinator, and a bedroom with solar panels.

Tuc TUC’s last adventure

‘Tuc Tuc’ previously ‘Tic Tac’, fell in to the extremely experienced hands of Liz Wardley after her original owners decided not to go ahead with their planned expedition.

Liz is a world renowned sailor with over half a million miles at sea under her belt even before she set off across the Atlantic in her beloved ‘Tic Tac’, so called because she felt it looked like a massive version of the minty treat with a big bite taken out of it. Liz breathed some maritime magic on her new boat with a few bespoke additions and modifications from the world of racing yachts and got her ready for her solo row in the World’s Toughest Row 2023.

‘Tuc Tuc’ bore Liz across the mighty Atlantic in a time of 44 Days 4 Hours and 47 Minutes, taking an incredible 15 days off the previous race record. This wasn’t enough for Liz though and within a matter of days Liz had signed up for the World’s Toughest Row Pacific 2024 and shipped her boat straight from Antigua to Monterey, California. Liz recruited 17 year old, French Olympic rowing hopeful Lena Kurbiel who helped Liz row to Kaua’i, Hawaii in just 37 Days, 16 Hours and 33 Minutes. Was this enough for Liz … nope… and on the 22nd July after less than a week on land they set off again and rowed another 2,187 nautical miles to the atoll of Majuro in the Marshall Islands in 41 Days, 21 Hours and 10 Minutes.