By Elizabeth Hunter via SWNS
Two best friends have become the fastest duo to row the Pacific Ocean – in just five weeks.
Jessica Oliver, 32, and Charlotte Harris, 33, completed the epic row in 37 days, 11 hours, and 43 minutes, breaking the record for the fastest-ever pair in the 2024 World’s Toughest Row Pacific Challenge.
They beat the existing women’s record by an astonishing 9 days.
They also won the female class outright and finished second in the race overall, beaten only by a team of four men who crossed the finish line 24 hours earlier.
The pair, known as Wild Waves began the 2,800-mile journey on June 8 in Monterey Bay, CA, before crossing the finish line in Hawaii today (16 Jul).
The achievement comes after they had previously set a world record in 2021 as the fastest female pair to row the Atlantic Ocean.
“It was absolutely grueling both from a mental and physical perspective – the hardest thing we have ever done,” said Jess as she and Charlotte stood on the winner’s podium with Hawaiian garlands around their necks.
There were ecstatic hugs and tears of joy as the pair fell into the arms of family and friends on the beach. Then they sprinted hand in hand to the winners’ podium and punched the air in triumph.
“We gave it everything and are completely broken, but it was worth it,” said Charlotte.
Apart from sheer grit and determination, it was teamwork and solid friendship that got them through.
“We can read each other so well,” said Charlotte.
The pair took a southerly route and were pursued by bitterly cold northerly winds from Canada, facing giant 40ft waves, and dozens of ‘knockdowns’ when their boat Cosimo almost capsized.
Within a week, their automatic steering system broke forcing them to steer manually which meant precious little sleep and lots of blisters to show for it.
“The first 10 days were really challenging,” said Jess.
“We thought: ‘who on earth signed us up for this?’.
“Sometimes the winds were so difficult we were screaming: ‘how am I supposed to get out of this?’
“There were definitely stressful times.”
Team Wild Waves were neck and neck in the women’s pairs for most of the race with their nearest rivals: Liz Wardley, a three-times round-the-world sailor who holds the Atlantic race record as a solo rower, and Lena Kurbiel, her 17-year-old partner.
After four weeks, on Friday July 12, the UK duo edged past them to take the lead.
“It was all about the race,” said Jess.
“We were constantly monitoring the competition.
“We’d make 15 miles of gains and then they’d be taken from us in one day. It was relentless.”
The most frightening episode was a near-collision with a tanker whose AIS tracking system was not turned on.
“We were 30 seconds from a head-on collision which would have seen our boat smashed to pieces,” said Charlotte.
Jess added: “We just about managed to get out of their course and were thrown up and down in the wake of their boat as it passed with just 10 meters to spare.”
Conquering the Pacific was the second major rowing achievement of Team Wild Waves, after setting a new record in 2021 for the fastest female pair to cross the Atlantic – a major feat for a pair of amateurs who had never rowed before.
Jessica, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and Charlotte, from Fleet in Hampshire, had hardly set foot on dry land when they decided that the Pacific had to be next.
Then followed two years of tough training, mostly in the gym and on the North Sea, along with fundraising and securing corporate sponsorship.
Their family and friends were on the beach at Hanalei Bay in Hawaii to welcome them across the finish line.
Jessica’s mother Germaine Hitchins was ecstatic. “She’s an amazing girl,” said Germaine.
“When she sets her mind to do something, nothing stops her from achieving that goal.
“She certainly knows how to test her mother to the limit – it’s been a nerve-racking few weeks.”
Fiance Will Drew, 41, from Grimsby, who met Jessica whilst both were taking part in the Atlantic Row 2021, was proud as punch.
“What they have done is extraordinary. It’s been such a close race,” he said.
“They are two truly remarkable women.
“Their performance is testament to their ability, their friendship, their resolve and their capacity for pain and endurance. It’s unbelievable.
“I can’t believe that I get to marry Jess after all this. It’s the stuff that dreams are made of.”
Jessica, a Salesforce consultant, and Charlotte, a global sourcing manager for BAT, met at Cardiff University more than ten years ago and took up rowing as a challenge, little realizing that the sport would rocket them into the world record books.
They raised more than £100,000 for Shelter and Women’s Aid when they crossed the Atlantic – and this time, they hope to raise £50,000 for Shelter.
The overall winners this year were four British Army Engineers, the Salty Sappers (Adam Siggs, Joshua Warne, Richard Wilkinson and Adam Sedgwick) who came in after 36 days on July 14.
