Photo: worldstoughestrow
Call of the WILD OCEAN Learning to sail in PNG has sparked a life-long love affair with the ocean for world champion yachtswoman and rower Liz Wardley Renata Laveil and Margo Nugent
ABOVE: Liz Wardley holds up her PNG flag on July 16 after crossing the Hawaii finish line in third place in the World’s Toughest Row – Pacific. With her French rowing partner Lena Kurbiel – who at only 17 set a new record as the youngest woman to row the mid-Pacific – the pair rowed for 37 days 16 hours 33 minutes from California, encountering wild weather, whales, a cracked tooth (for Liz) and even New Zealand warships. After resting for less than a week, Liz set off again on July 21 in her 7m rowboat Tic Tac to cross the rest of the Pacific, this time on her own. Her destination is either Kokopo in PNG or Australia, depending on weather and fatigue. Follow her on Instagram @liz_wardley
W hen her rowboat capsized on a stormy night in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean during her solo race in the World’s Toughest Row in January, Liz Wardley debated the danger of jumping into the dark waves alone to physically turn the vessel back over. It certainly would have been the safer choice for the petite ‘five-foot nothing’ Liz to sit tight
Rowing into English Harbour in Antigua in January 2024 at the end of her first World’s Toughest Row across the Atlantic (note the black PNG bird-of-paradise emblem on the boat’s stern)
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