The latest on what we're up to

NOW SOLD!

Team Status Row - 12 Nov 2019

We’re you inspired by the Status Row story? Fancy having a go yourself? We have now sold our beloved SeaSabre classic design ocean rowing boat, Poppy. Built by Justin Adkin in 2017 she has two successful Atlantic crossings under her belt and is a multi-world record holder. SeaSabre designs are...

Susan talks about some of the emotions of completing the row.

Susan Ronaldson - 03 Mar 2019

“You must be so proud” “What an amazing achievement” “You superstar!” “Hero!” These are all lovely things I’ve been told in the last 48 hours alone - and we’ve had so many more kind and incredible messages since we arrived back on terra firma two weeks ago. I’m personally so...

One More Before The End

Team Status Row - 10 Feb 2019

Dearest friends, It’s finally here, the last update from sea. Writing this brings a bittersweet tear to my eye, although tears come easier at sea so perhaps that’s to be expected. After 60 long, hard days we are a mere 56.5 nm from that allusive finish line. But before I...

Reflections

Susan Ronaldson - 09 Feb 2019

I was rowing solo at sunrise this morning and realised that there are only (hopefully!) a few more Mid Atlantic sunrises for me to see. Sun rise is my favourite time of day out here in the ocean - sunsets are good too but not as easy to see when...

The Art Of High Seas Seasoning

Jess Rego - 04 Feb 2019

There is very little in this world that we can control. That is a lesson we are learning every day out here in the big blue. You can wish for faster winds and bigger waves but the weather is beholden to no man. Willing yourself to push faster is a...

A Weekly Update

Team Status Row - 01 Feb 2019

So I know we just updated you about the para anchor woes but there is SO MUCH MORE that has happened this week. As soon as I pressed send on our last update two things happened in quick succession: 1) We spotted a boat on the horizon 2) our music...

Some Home Truths

Jess Rego - 31 Jan 2019

Currently I spend, on average: Less than an hour a day standing or crawling Six hours lying down Four hours in a state of partial recline, and Thirteen plus hours sat on my bum Of those thirteen hours I spent the vast majority with my arms and legs outstretched in...

An Update From The Team

Team Status Row - 29 Jan 2019

As many of you dot watchers will have seen, Status Row have unfortunately been stalled for a few days with very little progress. Don’t worry… Nothing scandalous or tragic has happened, it’s just a bad few days of weather. It’s always tough for the team when we see our miles...

A Weekly Update

Jess Rego - 25 Jan 2019

I’m going to come right out and say it… we are crushing it right now. This week we’ve continued to have our best rowing days yet, routinely hitting 60+ miles in a day. We quickly passed halfway and hit 1000 miles. Watching the counter tick over to triple digits was...

An Incredibly Eventful Week

Team Status Row - 20 Jan 2019

Well, well, what a week we’ve had. Truly one of highs and lows. We started feeling all around a bit terrible. Days are hot and slow and no matter how much water you drink (we’re now running our water maker twice a day) you still feel like a dried out...

Flying Fish:5 - Susan:0

Jess Rego - 18 Jan 2019

The other evening I was rowing along merrily on a solo shift. It was slow but steady and I had Disney tunes to keep me entertained when out of nowhere my port oar got caught in a particularly aggressive wave. I got punched full force in the stomach, hard enough...

Jess' 7 day roundup

Jess Rego - 10 Jan 2019

Another 7 days at sea and what a week we’ve had. We’ve been visited by a passing yacht - very exciting to run into neighbours while in the big blue! - while storming it at 3.5 knots. Was this our first taste of the mythical trade winds? Spirits were high...

Susan reflects on what keeps us going

Susan Ronaldson - 08 Jan 2019

Time is a funny thing. When you’re on shift in the middle of the night, battling to both move the boat at even one knot, and stay awake, time almost seems to stand still. And in those conditions Antigua seems a long way off… But we’re amazingly just completing our...

Celebrating New Years in the middle of The Atlantic

Jess Rego - 04 Jan 2019

Another week down and oh what a roller coaster it has been. Following our Christmas cheer we were hit with a few hard slow days of rowing. Safety officer Ian had told us to keep heading south but every day in that direction brought us despair. Fighting choppy waves and...

Celebrating Christmas in the middle of The Atlantic

Jess Rego - 27 Dec 2018

It’s a bit mad to think that we’ve been out at sea for over two weeks now. Time is both flying by and moving impossibly slowly, all at the same time. As we settle into our eat, sleep, row, repeat routines it’s nice to have moments that are a little...

Our first blog entry on the water

Team Status Row - 18 Dec 2018

Current position: N2526’14.5 W02050’43.5 What a fantastic end to our first week at sea- a surprise visit from Skye the support yacht, skippered by the wonderful Mani. When you haven’t seen another object let alone person for days, it’s quite a euphoric feeling. We’ve just waved goodbye and the ocean...

One day till race start.

Susan Ronaldson - 11 Dec 2018

One day to go! When you’ve aimed, struggled, worked hard for, dreamed of, put everything into something for months and years, it’s hard to believe it when it’s finally here. Tomorrow we are going to set out rowing from the marina in La Gomera, and not stop til we hit...

Team Status Row - 04 Dec 2018

Follow team Status Row and our boat, Poppy, in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge as they row 3000 miles from La Gomera in the Canaries to Antigua. Our onboard tracker will update every 4 hours so you can experience the crossing with us. Get the YB Races App So you...

Team Status Row - 04 Dec 2018

Status Row is excited to announce that Farmdrop has come on board as one of our bronze corporate sponsors. This support will make a positive difference to our participation in this year’s Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, bringing us one step closer to our mission. Farmdrop says, “Farmdrop is delighted to...

What it feels like to be just a few weeks from the start line

Susan Ronaldson - 07 Nov 2018

Ever since that moment at the pub back in June last year, when I googled ‘Atlantic rowing race’, I’ve known that we would make it to the start line. Of course there have been worries along the way - funding, family health, aches and pains – but my belief has...

Susan Ronaldson - 02 Oct 2018

Wow, we were so busy doing and not writing a month ago - so now it’s two for the price of one as we catch up on what the crew and Poppy have been up to! Training August was a big one as we completed our longest training rows yet...

Team Status Row - 17 Sep 2018

Unwrpd offer a sustainable subscription service to help people make less waste, they stock plastic free alternatives to everyday items and will be supplying Status Row with an array of ocean friendly products, as they participate in this year’s Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge - the premier event in ocean rowing...

Bringing Poppy to London

Caroline Wilson - 10 Sep 2018

Every year, St Katharine Docks, the marina next to London’s Tower Bridge, hosts the Classic Boat Festival. This year, we were lucky enough to be asked to take part. Planning mode ensued… The logistics of getting Poppy from her home in Burnham-on-Crouch to London was harder than you might think!...

Team Status Row - 28 Aug 2018

Status Row is delighted to announce that Butterfield Bank has come on board as one of our silver corporate sponsors. This support will make a positive difference to our participation in this year’s Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, bringing us one step closer to our mission. We are the only amateur...

Only four months to go until the start line!

Susan Ronaldson - 04 Aug 2018

The end of July means it’s just four months until we arrive in La Gomera to undertake our final preparations for the world’s toughest row. July has been a hot one and we’ve been lucky enough to spend a big chunk of it on or by the river, from Henley...

The learning curve is steep

Caroline Wilson - 11 Jul 2018

Back in May, everything changed. It had been a long day of driving from Hertfordshire to Devon and what felt like a lifetime of decision making before we made our move. We’d gone down to Axminster to meet Di of the Atlantic Ladies (TWAC 2017) and Justin Adkin, the talented...

The highs, lows and more highs of finally having our beautiful boat.

Susan Ronaldson - 02 Jul 2018

Almost exactly a year after saying yes to rowing an ocean, last weekend I watched our new boat Poppy being launched. It was a quite emotional – whilst I’ve always believed we would row the Atlantic, having a boat makes it all seem very real! We’ve been touched and amazed...

Susan Ronaldson - 04 Jun 2018

As the clocked ticked down to just 200 days to the starting gun, this May have been our busiest month… Most importantly we completed our line up and welcomed Poppy to team Status Row! The Boat Let’s start with the big news- we bought a boat! We had our first...

The question everyone wants to know

Susan Ronaldson - 03 Jun 2018

When we first started telling people that we’d had this great idea to row an ocean, soon after exclaiming we were mad, they would ask us a series of questions to try and make sense of it. The most common things people wanted to know were: Where do you go...

AKA Please keep cheering, even though my life is boring now

Jess Rego - 08 May 2018

Two weeks ago Caroline and I went along to the London Marathon cheer on her partner Christian. He is freakishly speedy and was done remarkably fast, but even though he was done quicker than 90% of that race (finishing time 3 hr, 11 mins, big up!) we still only went...

Spreading the word on plastic

Caroline Wilson - 01 May 2018

Another jam-packed month for the team, who have been working hard to share the word about our mission to new audiences. SPONSORS/FUNDRAISING Rainbow Brands have joined us as a bronze supporter! These guys are on a mission to promote healthy lifestyles to alleviate stress. Who doesn’t love that! We’ve created...

Looking back on a day that changed my life

Susan Ronaldson - 30 Apr 2018

What were you doing five years ago today? I was in a hospital bed wired up to a machine with electrodes attached to my skull! If you’d told me that within a few years my life would have turned around so dramatically that I would be preparing to row the...

Susan Ronaldson - 09 Apr 2018

How has a quarter of the year gone by already? In less than 250 days we will be on the start line in La Gomera… and there is still so much to do… But we managed to pack in a whole bundle of training, talks and larks in March, including:...

Susan talks about how dreaming big and setting yourself goals can transform everyday life

Susan Ronaldson - 08 Apr 2018

‘You’re crazy!’ It’s something I hear quite frequently nowadays. Usually it comes with a smile and a tone of positivity which lets you know that the ocean rowing madness you are accused of is actually considered pretty cool. But the other day I heard it from an old friend with...

The journey to the start line is an adventure in itself

Caroline Wilson - 22 Mar 2018

I write this at 10 am on a Thursday morning from a cafe in East London during a short pit stop between a morning yoga class at the office and heading off to Victoria to give a talk at the National Audit Office about our row. To say life is...

Celebrating the women in the ocean rowing community

Caroline Wilson - 08 Mar 2018

We wanted to use International Women’s Day an an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of some of the incredible women in the ocean community that have gone before us and inspired us to take on this epic challenge. We reached out to ask for some words of wisdom and inspiration...

The monthly round up of what team Status Row has been up to.

Jess Rego - 04 Mar 2018

Seriously, where did February go? It seemed we had just settled into 2018 and suddenly it was March! The team have been heavy into press and outreach this month and have had some exciting things come out of that. Here’s the February round up in case you missed anything. Events...

But the 2018 start line is still a long way off

Caroline Wilson - 03 Mar 2018

One of the things I’ve been hearing a bit over the last month is… “it looks like things are really taking off for Status Row!”, and you know what, I’d agree. Thing is, whilst this is all going in the right direction, we still have a lot of money to...

Speaking at the Sustainability Development Goals Network

Jess Rego - 02 Mar 2018

On Thursday evening Susan and I had the opportunity to speak at the #MeetTheSDGs meetup at Leon and we wanted to share a bit about the group, what we learned and how you can get involved. So what is an SDG? The sustainable development goals are a series of global...

Sometimes you have to break it to make it stronger

Jess Rego - 01 Mar 2018

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to meet with Andy Bruce of ACB Coaching and while we walked into it thinking we’d be focusing on how to ramp up our physical training while avoiding injury (something I’ve been plagued with!) we ended up speaking about the much more...

Making new friends

Susan Ronaldson - 10 Feb 2018

Happy new year!!!! Err, ok we’re now into Feb but it’s time for our latest round up and the big news is that 2018, the year of our race, has arrived! That’s both terrifying and exciting in equal measures and has been a been a real wake up call for...

And the things you do

Caroline Wilson - 02 Feb 2018

One of the things that has absolutely blown me away over the last 6 months, is the incredible response that we’ve had from family, friends and people we’ve never met from all across the globe. We’ve had so many highs and lows in our campaign so far, and I can...

Jess Rego - 14 Jan 2018

New year, new me. It’s the cliche heard around the world at the stroke of midnight come NYE. As if throwing out one calendar and hanging a new one in its place has the magical power to fix your flaws and make you the unicorn princess you were #borntobe. Go...

Would YOU like a 5p carrier bag?

Susan Ronaldson - 06 Jan 2018

Plastic carrier bags are unsightly, terrible for our wildlife, use up finite natural resources to manufacture and take years to decompose. It wasn’t until the government stepped in that we really started to question our need for such a ‘convenient’ item. The good news is that alternatives are plentiful, cheap,...

To the woman who taught me what it means to live.

Jess Rego - 09 Dec 2017

Dear Mom, Happy birthday! It just so happened that my blog for Status Row was due today and, ever the procrastinator, as I start it now at 12:23am on your 58th birthday I figure it’s only fitting that I dedicate this one to you. In the ten years since you’ve...

With less rowing but more exploring

Caroline Wilson - 03 Dec 2017

And another month has flown by… We’ve been absolutely blown away by the messages of support we’ve been receiving from people all over the world. We took some time to re-read the messages as a team yesterday and we were almost in tears! THANK YOU, all of you. 😘 Every...

Susan Ronaldson - 24 Nov 2017

It turns out that planning to row across the Atlantic Ocean is life changing. Over 12 months before the start of the race, and before Caroline, Jess and I even own our own boat, we are have having amazing new experiences, meeting fantastic people and learning so, so much and...

What do adventurers do on their weekends?

Jess Rego - 18 Nov 2017

Well. When we aren’t working out, chasing potential sponsors, sleeping or reminding our friends and families what we look like we like to hang out and learn from other adventurers. Last weekend (11-12th Nov), Caroline and I had the opportunity to attend the Royal Geographical Society’s Explore 2017. What is...

Cutting Plastic Straws From Your Life

Jess Rego - 14 Nov 2017

Ever since starting our journey to combat plastic pollution through prevention we’ve found a few people always seem to have an excuse to why they can’t possible reduce any further. One place is with straws. I can sit there and tell someone all the horrors of plastic and the destruction...

When sinking is not an option

Caroline Wilson - 09 Nov 2017

The last month saw our campaign grow at an incredible pace. Our physical training plan got harder, the hours spent being rejected by potential sponsors increased and I started a new job. With such big targets to hit both physically and financially, there are moments when it’s hard to see...

Is it time to kick the habit?

Caroline Wilson - 07 Nov 2017

Like many coffee enthusiasts, every Friday morning my boyfriend and I treat ourselves to a takeaway coffee en route to the office. Being the conscientious pair we are, once we’ve had our delicious caffeine hit, we pop our takeaway coffee cups into the recycling bin, because they’re made of paper...

Susan Ronaldson - 04 Nov 2017

Humans have always strived to achieve things that have never been done before… and if they can’t be first then the fastest, highest, strongest! It’s this kind of drive that has led to such significant ‘progress’ in the world. But we’re now at a tipping point where that drive for...

Packed in a lot-tober

Susan Ronaldson - 29 Oct 2017

October was ‘packed in a lot-tober’ for us as we’ve flung ourselves into our campaign to get Status Row to the start line of the world’s toughest row, whilst increasing our efforts to spread the word on plastic pollution. We have: Discovered ocean rowing is harder the second time around;...

(and other stories of imposter syndrome)

Jess Rego - 28 Oct 2017

I’ve been meaning to write to you all for a while. Much to the frustration of my team I’ve been late with this deadline and while I’d like to say it was because I’ve been super busy the truth is I found it really hard to write this blog. Although...

Millions are flushing plastic cotton buds down the toilet. It’s time to stop.

Caroline Wilson - 13 Oct 2017

Flushed down our toilets, plastic cotton bud sticks are entering the sewage system, littering our beaches and finding their way to marine environments. Once there, the sticks are ingested by marine wildlife, killing them and raising questions around the safety of our food. Yet here in the UK, millions of...

Watling Park, Burnt Oak

Caroline Wilson & Jess Rego - 09 Oct 2017

Is there anything better than a lazy day inside on a rainy Saturday? A few weeks ago I probably would have said no but that was before I spent the day with some wonderful people clearing up litter in Watling Park in Burnt Oak. I know what you’re thinking -...

How do you get people to change?

Susan Ronaldson - 08 Oct 2017

It’s a conundrum that faces me everyday in my professional life as a Change Director and one which is at the heart our mission as Status Row. Most of us don’t like doing things differently, and especially where different seems more difficult. As a busy person who lives on her...

Setting up our campaign

Jess Rego - 05 Oct 2017

Wow, September has been a crazy whirlwind of a month for us. September was the month we went from talking about rowing an ocean to actually planning to row across the Atlantic. Recap, that’s 3 women traveling 3,000 miles in around 50 days all to raise awareness and funds for...

(the one with the inspirational words)

Susan Ronaldson - 22 Sep 2017

For me it started in a bar in Pucon, Chile; a small town at the foot of a rather large, active volcano. Of course life is full of beginnings, endings, twists and turns that change us, but that evening seems pivotal in turning me from a rather cautious, sensible soul...

Taking part in the Great British Beach Clean

Caroline Wilson - 16 Sep 2017

Plastic cotton buds are taking over our beaches and making their way into the ocean. Brilliant volunteers are helping to clean up the mess we’ve made, but more action is needed to prevent plastic and other litter from reaching our beaches in the first place. Documenting each piece of litter...

(the one who can't say no)

Caroline Wilson - 15 Sep 2017

It all started with the Coxless Crew documentary; A group of women, rowing the South Pacific Ocean to support women that have had to face adversity and overcome life changing events. I’d never even heard of ocean rowing before and was blown away by the incredible mental and physical challenge...

(the one who had to be talked into it)

Jess Rego - 08 Sep 2017

When the girls first got the idea in their heads that we should row across the Atlantic I was like “yeah!” Except it was swiftly followed by a “…right,” an eye roll and a quickly consumed pint. I assumed this was another insane, flash in the pan idea that would...