June 21, 2023
Author:
Nicola Douglas

Burnham and ocean rowing - intrinsically linked

A special shout out to our great friends, Dawn, Kay and Sophie, who are a few days into their Pacific rowing adventure as team Row Aurora as part of the World's Toughest Race. Dawn and Kay both live within a couple of miles of Rannoch HQ and we've worked closely with them both for several years.

Charlie introduced Dawn to ocean rowing in 2016 when he was training the Kung Fu Cha Cha team in China. Since then, she has built up her own sea school, trained countless ocean rowers and crossed the Atlantic herself three times - once solo in her R10 True Blue and twice in our RX80, Roxy.

In 2020, Dawn and Charlie spent 42 days and nights with Sophie on Roxy and a strong bond was formed that has led to them now rowing together across the Pacific. Sophie was an eternally strong and positive crew member of Roxy that year and the laughter that came from their cabin still rings in Charlie's ears!

Kay spent most of her working life in the boat building business and her knowledge of Rannoch boats will stand her in great stead out on the ocean. She and Dawn are great friends and have been hugely involved with the Burnham on Crouch Coastal Rowing Club - they are wonderful local ambassadors for the sport of rowing.

Best of luck to Row Aurora over the coming weeks - we know there will be loads of laughter on board!  

Photo credits: World's Toughest Row



UPDATE 22nd July 2023

And they've done it!

Our great friends Dawn, Kay & Sophie of team @rowaurora have just been awarded the World Record for the Fastest Female Trio to row the Pacific. They have also won the Female Class in @worlds.toughest.row - Pacific 2023 as well as being the oldest (combined age) female team to row any part of the Pacific.

They crossed the finishing line in  40 days, 4 hours, 52 minutes in their standard Rannoch R45, coming 8th overall. In a fiercely contested race, they beat the other female trio, Antigua Island Girls into 9th place. What an amazing achievement from our wonderful local ambassadors for the sport of rowing.

Dawn says: "Charlie and the whole Rannoch team have been so supportive of our row. They've been there to advise and support us on so many different levels - we're incredibly lucky to have their ocean rowing expertise on our doorstep. We're already looking forward to enjoying a rum with them all when we get home".

We can't wait to welcome you back to Burnham and hear all about it!