Lia Ditton Smashes Transpacific Rowing Record

Mike Coleman, who sails his Santana 22 Latitude out of Monterey, and also runs Ocean Edge Yacht Detailing, mentioned to his friend Katherine Robredo in Hawaii that a woman, Lia Ditton, was rowing into Waikiki Yacht Club, from San Francisco. Sure enough, after rowing 2083 miles in 86 days, 10 hours, 05 minutes and 56 seconds, Lia showed up at the docks of the club! Katherine raced to the clubhouse and took these shots, saying, “It was my honor to be at Lia’s finish line at Ala Moana Harbor this morning . . . I got there at 0530 and she stepped on the dock at 0608 or so, and I left her a lei and Champagne at the club!“

Congratulations to Lia on an epic, record-breaking voyage. Her 86-day row bested Roz Savage’s 2008 record of 100 days. Lia has an impressive sailing résumé of over 150,000 miles including solo transatlantics and numerous other adventures.

Sailing to Hawaii, crewed or solo, carries its own monumental challenges, but rowing solo is a whole other mountain to climb. She’d packed food for 75 days, but ended up at sea for 86 days. She was rolled twice during the crossing, yet, with incredible perseverance, managed to come out on top in the end. You can read more about Lia’s background in our September 2017 issue, or find more details of her stunning achievement at rowliarow.com.

This video from Lia’s Facebook page documents the moment she reaches land and sets a new women’s record for rowing from San Francisco to Hawaii.

While this is an impressive feat in itself, Lia’s next quest, set for spring 2021, is to become the first solo rower to complete the 5,500-mile journey across the northern Pacific from Japan to San Francisco.

We have no doubt that she will succeed!