An all-woman crew who spent two months at sea have set a Guinness World Record for crossing the Pacific Ocean in a small rowing boat.
The Girls Who Dare team successfully rowed 4,400 kilometres from San Francisco to Hawaii as part of the Great Pacific Race.
On Saturday, Dubai residents Jane Leonard, 37, and Orlagh Dempsey, 27, set a new race record of 60 days, 13 hours and 13 minutes when they crossed the finish line in Waikiki, Honolulu, with their teammate Vicki Anstey, 43, from the UK.
The normal 30-minute paddle from finish line to landing dock took well over three hours of hard slog as the girls' mettle was tested one final time
Great Pacific Race organisers
They officially broke the previous world record of 62 days, 18 hours and 36 minutes by more than two full days.
Setting off on May 31 in their compact 24-foot boat, the trio battled 15-metre waves, severe fatigue and battering 120kph winds.
But even with the finish line in sight, they fought hard until the very end, as Mother Nature gave them one last surprise as they rowed their last few strokes to victory.
“After crossing the finish line earlier today, the @girls.who.dare may have thought their row was over and done with, but due to strong currents and stronger winds, getting to land was not a straightforward process,” race organisers said.
"Due to Hawaii's world-famous shore breaks, to get to land safely the rowing boats need to row through a channel that has been dredged to allow safe egress to and from the yacht club.
“The normal 30-minute paddle from finish line to landing dock took well over three hours of hard slog as the girls' mettle was tested one final time. The girls knew that if they accepted a tow that world record would not stand.”
As well as breaking a race record, Girls Who Dare set a second world record for crossing the mid-Pacific at 60 days, 17 hours, and six minutes, with an average speed of 1.43 knots.
Visibly exhausted and sporting war wounds from their epic rowing feat, including swollen hands, blisters and body sores, the women celebrated to the cheers of onlookers as confetti rained down on them.
Hours after touching land for the first time in 60 days, Leonard, Dempsey and Anstey ate their first proper home-cooked meal in two months: a supersized burger and chips.
On board, the trio consumed close to 300,000 calories – about 4,000 a day – throughout the duration of the race, courtesy of dehydrated meal packs.
The team – who are all amateur rowers – spent months planning and preparing for their 4,440km mission.
Rowing 24 hours a day on a four-hours-on, two-hours-off schedule, they took turns sleeping in a small cabin that measured 2m by 1.5m.
Speaking to The National on day 58 of their voyage, Leonard said that although it was one of the most challenging endeavours of her life, she would do it again if she had the chance.
Speaking by satellite phone, she said: “We’ve been hit hard by rain, wind and major fatigue, but one of the toughest things for me has been trying to carry on with daily life on a small boat.
“The biggest thing is the constant battle on your body. My hands are destroyed with blisters and we have sores on our bums from sitting for hours each day. When the salt water hits them it’s awful.
“Going into a rowing shift with sores all over takes so much mental strength, but if I had the opportunity to do this again, I would.”
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The biog
Favourite colour: Brown
Favourite Movie: Resident Evil
Hobbies: Painting, Cooking, Imitating Voices
Favourite food: Pizza
Trivia: Was the voice of three characters in the Emirati animation, Shaabiyat Al Cartoon
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
Paris Can Wait
Dir: Eleanor Coppola
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Diane Lane, Arnaud Viard
Two stars
