Maclean Brothers
Adventurers
Maclean Brothers
Adventurers
Biography
The Maclean brothers, Ewan, Jamie, and Lachlan, are three Scottish brothers raised on a sense of adventure. They first made global headlines in 2019 when they became the fastest trio to row across the Atlantic Ocean. They rowed over 3,000 miles from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean Island of Antigua. Battling relentless ocean swells, sleep deprivation, and mental fatigue; they completed the crossing in 35 days, breaking the previous speed record by nearly six days. They were the youngest trio and the first team of brothers on record to complete the journey under oar.
Following their Atlantic success, the brothers wanted to keep working together to raise vital funds for causes they believed in. They founded a family-run charity, The Maclean Foundation, with a mission to inspire positive change. In 2022, they travelled to Madagascar to see water projects they’d funded through their first row. Deeply moved by the experience, they wanted to do more.
In 2025, they made history again by rowing across the entire Pacific Ocean, breaking the previous record by over 20 days. At sea for a gruelling 139 days, they rowed 9,750 miles from Lima, Peru to Cairns, Australia — nearly half-way around the planet. The brothers endured tropical storms, seasickness, dwindling food supplies, and even a man-overboard incident. They overcame extraordinary adversity with steadfast positivity and unwavering team spirit. The feat set a new Fastest Known Time and made them the first team ever to row unsupported and non-stop from South America to Australia. Through the challenge, they raised over £1 million for clean water projects in Madagascar, which will bring safe drinking water to more than 40,000 people.
The Maclean brothers have become sought-after inspirational speakers, sharing their story of brotherhood, resilience, and what’s possible when ordinary people pursue extraordinary goals. They’ve delivered talks to large public audiences, corporate teams, schools, universities, and aspiring adventurers with their core message: that you can help yourself by helping others. For them, the greatest journeys are those fuelled by purpose. Fresh off the Pacific, they want to take stock, dive deeper to share what they learnt on their journey with others. What better way to do this than writing a book.
Whether on the water, in writing or on stage, the Maclean brothers aim to redefine limits, raise vital funds and awareness, and prove that anything is possible with teamwork, shared belief, determination, and a positive mindset.
Speech Topics
Brotherhood/Teamwork
The Pacific has taught us the power of working together towards a shared goal. We are normal people with average abilities, and we didn’t come from a professional rowing or sailing backgrounds. By leaning on each other’s strengths, we compensated for our weaknesses, creating a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts. It was through teamwork, more than anything else, that three ordinary people were able to do something extraordinary.
Action Over Hesitation
You will always find reasons not to do something if you think about it for long enough. There was no step-by-step guide to rowing the Pacific. It required us to dream big, using intuition as our guide. The Pacific has taught us lessons in taking that first scary step, the leap of faith, to embrace the road less traveled. Once we took the step, we learned to be good beginners. Whether it was for boatbuilding, physical and mental preparation or fundraising and PR, we surrounded ourselves with the best possible mentors and started learning, never pretending to have the answers ourselves.
Getting out of our bunks on the ocean didn’t become easy at any point. There was no corner-cutting or a cheat code to use. The only way to get closer to our destination was putting in the shifts, eating frogs (i.e. tackling the hardest jobs first), and accepting that motivation is an action not a feeling. Our drive to keep going came through doing, not thinking about it.
True Fulfilment
We learned many lessons in helping ourselves by helping others. This journey was about far more than going from points A to B. It wasn’t about ‘the glory’ or breaking records. It was about combining our shared passion with a clear purpose. As we rode the waves, enduring all manner of trials and tribulations, we kept the ocean in view: raising £1 million for clean water projects. The more challenging the experience was for us, the more money we would likely raise.
Doing hard stuff is good for you. Through blood, sweat and tears, we learned to appreciate how adversity is often part of fulfillment. The biggest challenges in life strip away the fluff, clarifying what is truly important.
Positive Mindset
No matter how bleak or challenging experiences might seem, we can always work on changing our perception. Looking for positives was our bread and butter, keeping us cheery as we crawled, millimeter by millimeter, across the chart.Every week, we got into the water and cleaned the hull, a job that we initially dreaded. 9,000 miles later, we’d done the thing that scared us until it no longer did. Fears of what lurked in the miles of ocean below us had been forgotten, replaced by a longing for a much needed wash – the ultimate reset.
When the going did get tough, we learned to see the broader picture. The lows framed the highs, and the charitable mission kept the fires burning. Even the darkest Pacific night was followed by a morning light.
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