Lewis, 16th July 2026 World record rowers The Maclean Brothers have arrived in Stornoway for HebCelt festival – after paddling overnight from Ullapool to make it in time for the official opening.
They made the 15 hour journey over The Minch taking in a glorious Hebridean sunset, pods of dolphins and even jokingly challenging a CalMac ferry to a race, arriving in the town’s harbour in time for breakfast.
Ewan, Lachlan and Jamie Maclean crossed The Minch in their ocean rowing boat Rose Emily, finally cracking a stretch of water that had beaten them twice before.
Ewan admitted they weren’t sure if they would make it, but that with the help of two others in the crew, they were delighted to have reached the shore in time.
He said: “We’re recently back from rowing across the Pacific last year but, our latest expedition has been rowing across The Minch to get from Ullapool to Stornoway to get to HebCelt, and we’re so excited we made it – because there was a good chance we weren’t going to make it to be honest, because we’ve been turned back before – but we’re here.”
They have already navigated plans of who they want to see – but only after claiming their prize of a pint from organisers as reward for making it after sharing a cheeky bet on Instagram during their journey.
Lachlan: “We just can’t wait for the weekend, and we can’t wait to see some of our favourite bands – Valtos are a big favourite of all three of us, Mec Lir, Peatbog Faeries, Beinn Lee is going to be epic, and Manran.”
Jamie added: “The line-up is just unbelievable, the weather has really delivered, we’re looking forward to getting inside the festival and having a pint.”
The trio first hit the headlines in 2020 when, despite never having rowed seriously before, they crossed the Atlantic – breaking three world records and raising more than £200,000 for charity.
That adventure led them to set up The Maclean Foundation in 2023, funding clean water projects around the globe. Their Pacific epic raised a massive £1 million, with the cash now paying for boreholes in Madagascar that will give around 40,000 people clean water for life.
The brothers were reunited with Rose Emily – named in memory of the sister they never knew – just days before the crossing.
The boat had been on display at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney following the Pacific row, before being flown home by their partner Menzies Aviation.
And they didn’t arrive empty-handed. Stashed on board were first editions of their new book, Three Brothers in a Boat, picked up from Ullapool Bookshop and delivered across the water to The Baltic Bookshop in Stornoway.
The book, out in September, tells the full story of their Pacific adventure.
