Rower Kelsey Pfendler, who was set to break the California-to-Hawaii speed record, trained in Monterey Bay before starting her journey in May.
After nearly a month and a half at sea, ocean rower Kelsey Pfendler was on the verge of landing in Oahu on Friday evening in a finish that will smash the speed record for rowing from California to Hawaii alone and make her the first American woman to accomplish the feat.
Pfendler, a 31-year-old Grand Canyon river guide, set out in May from Monterey in her 24-foot boat loaded with supplies and in pursuit of world titles.
“I love competitive sports,” she told the Chronicle before her launch. Chasing records “pushes people to be stronger and better.”
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On Friday morning, two days before her 32nd birthday, Pfendler’s satellite tracker showed her nearing her finish line at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor in Honolulu, where friends and family would be waiting to greet her. Barring last-minute catastrophe, she’ll finish in about 43 days, which would make Pfendler the youngest woman to complete a mid-Pacific crossing solo.
In a Friday video post from the deck of her boat, Pfendler spoke about being within sight of her goal and knowing that she would set a new benchmark for future mid-Pacific rowers. She said she’d been racked with self-doubt early in her journey but then set a daily mileage total and made sure to work until she hit it or surpassed it.
“I think it’s going to take a while to really absorb that this is really happening, but at this point, it’s going to happen,” she said. “It’s a crazy feeling to have this moment when I didn’t even expect fully to break the women’s record. … I’m so grateful for this moment. This is huge for me for a lot of reasons.”
Kelsey Pfendler in her rowboat’s cabin before her launch.
Pfendler’s expected finishing time cuts about nine days off of the previous overall speed record, a 52-day mark set by U.K. rower Robert Eustace in 2014, according to the Ocean Rowing Society. The short list of others who have completed the roughly 2,300-nautical-mile voyage alone have taken between roughly 57 and 111 days.
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“She absolutely crushed it,” said Carlo Facchino, a Bay Area ocean rower who completed his own solo row to the islands in 2022 and served as part of Pfendler’s shore team during her row.
As in all sorts of extreme boating disciplines, Pfendler’s achievement has nuances that set it apart from similar accomplishments.
Notably, she rowed a newer class of rowboat known as a “concept” vessel made by English boatbuilding company Rannoch Adventure. Rowers say that style has come into vogue in the past five or so years because it is aerodynamically distinct and deemed faster than “classic” rowboat designs utilized by many previous mid-Pacific rowers. One key advantage is that the Rannoch boats have larger bow cabins that better capture tailwinds and help aid a rower’s progress.
“In essence, she’s setting her own record while totally blowing away the previous records, which is incredible,” Facchino said. “I bet anyone going forward will row a concept class boat, but they’ll have a tough time beating Kelsey’s record. She’s setting a new gold standard.”
Kelsey Pfendler set out on the roughly 2,300-nautical-mile journey in the hopes of setting world records.
Pfendler had completed a mid-Pacific row in 2024 as part of a four-woman team that completed the journey in 41 days. She was so stoked by the adventure that she wanted to devise another tough ocean objective, she told the Chronicle.
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“Something I really love about sports and why I find them beautiful is they’re like a metaphor for life,” Pfendler said before her launch. “You’ll suffer, but the more that you don’t shy away from stress and feeling uncomfortable, the easier it becomes for you to manage and get through.”
After setting out from Monterey, Pfendler encountered adversity almost immediately.
The toughest part of these rows is often the first 250 miles as rowers struggle to gain separation from the continent while being dragged south by strong coastal currents. According to video updates Pfendler posted during her trip, the first two weeks were extremely exhausting. At one point, she’d slept about seven hours over seven days, spending every waking moment she could feverishly cranking on her oars to get west into the deep ocean.
Kelsey Pfendler rowed through squalls and periodically scraped barnacles from her boat’s hull during her solo journey from California to Hawaii.
Though Pfendler launched without much fanfare, her profile skyrocketed during her row.
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While at sea, Pfendler posted daily video reports from her tiny vessel detailing her progress, emotions and routines — like what she eats for breakfast (Cheerios with powdered milk and protein powder) and how she has to periodically scrape barnacles from her hull to reduce drag. Interest in her journey surged, with her Instagram following rising to nearly 600,000 followers and scores of commenters wishing her well.
In one recent video message, “Moana” movie stars Catherine Laga’aia and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson congratulated Pfendler on crossing the midway point of her voyage.
“We’re deeply inspired by your strength and courage to leave the shore in boldly charting your own course,” Laga’aia said.
“We can’t wait to welcome you to our islands of Hawaii when you cross that line and finish,” Johnson said. “Chee Hoo! Got tequila waiting for you!”
