PREVIEW

At a time when many of her student contemporaries are out enjoying Christmas parties, 21-year-old Zara Lachlan has been facing down dangerous killer whales while rowing across the Atlantic.

If the recent Loughborough University graduate completes the challenge and rows the 3,600 nautical miles to French Guiana she will become the first woman and youngest person ever to complete any mainland trans-Atlantic crossing and will become a world record holder.


Despite vicious headwinds and her encounter with the killer whales, or orcas, who have been known to sink small boats, the youngster has passed the Canary Islands having completed the first 1000 miles (869 nautical miles) of her record breaking solo Atlantic row.

She departed from Lagos on the Portuguese Algarve on 27 October 2024 and has now been alone on the boat for more than a month, rowing up to 20 hours a day rather than the 15 in her initial plans to make headway through challenging headwinds that have slowed her progress.

From the boat, on reaching the Canaries, Zara said: “I’ve had a really tough past few days. Very long hours of rowing in slow conditions which has meant not getting very far.

“This is the toughest part of the row. I knew this would be the toughest part but then hopefully the weather will come with me.

“I’m around the Canaries now and can see land. Once past the Canaries the weather is much more predictable across the Atlantic – which will be nice.”

Despite battling changing weather and headwinds, Zara has also been joined by a raft of marine life, some welcome including dolphins, a penguin and an octopus that attached to her para anchor.


It was her encounter with an Orca though that was the most scary moment - as recent reports have shown the deadly sea-going mammals have been known to attack and sink yachts.

When she spotted the whales she said: "Oh my God there are killer whales. Oh my God I'm shaking. I don't know what to do I'm shaking...my legs are shaking so much."

She stopped her boat and thankfully the beasts left her alone, after which she said, "that was so scary, they're huge!"

However, having seen off the killer whales, Zara remains as determined and as focused as ever on the task ahead as she continues onto the next phase of her epic adventure. She also enjoyed a more pleasant tête-à-tête with some friendly dolphins.

The journey from Portugal to French Guiana and is predicted to take at least 90 days from start to finish, hopefully ending in January 2025.

Her voyage requires an unrelenting cycle – row for five hours, sleep for 20 minutes – that she generally breaks only to clean her boat or when facing fierce headwinds to deploy her parachute anchor and take a longer break.

Each day she will burn about 7,200 calories which is far more than the 5,500kcal her body is able to absorb. With this daily deficit Zara at 5ft 8in and 64kg (10st 1lb) could possibly lose up to a third of her body weight.

To help her stay healthy during her epic journey, before the trip she did 39 hours of cardio per week and has been working with a nutritionist to ensure she gets all the calories she needs to keep her going each day.

Speaking ahead the expedition, Zara said: “I rowed extensively at university but I’d never been in an ocean rowing boat. I really wanted to take on a big challenge, other women have rowed from Africa to South America, but not mainland to mainland so I’ll be setting another world record there. Rowing over winter means I’ll be less likely to encounter tropical storms, but there are still plenty of other risk factors to consider. The ocean can be pretty scary.”

As a young solo female traveller Zara is also preparing for the danger of pirate attacks and hijackings as she travels past West Africa. So far it’s the killer whale that has been her scariest encounter.

Zara’s mum, Claire Lachlan, who cried when Zara first talked about the challenge, said: “We are so incredibly proud of Zara – it has been a monumental effort to get her to the Canaries through some really tough conditions.”

Through this challenge Zara is hoping to inspire women and girls into sport and she is also planning to host a talk from the ocean for schools across the UK.

She will be raising money for two charities through her record-breaking trip, Team Forces and Women in Sport.

Major General Lamont Kirkland, CEO Team Forces, commented: “What an inspiration Zara is. She’s not had it easy during this first and most difficult stage of the row, yet she's shown true courage and tenacity about the task in hand. We are so proud to be supporting her on this incredible challenge."

After she finishes her epic row, the physics graduate plans to join the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in May 2025 to train to become a technical Army Officer.