My Adventure: by Jasmine Harrison
Jasmine was the youngest female to solo row the Atlantic Ocean in 2021, aged 21. She swam from Lands End to John O’Groats in 2022, the first female and only third person to achieve it and holds the Guinness World Record. She is a Forbes 30-under-30 lister (sports, Europe 2021) and holds the Freedom of both Thirsk and Sowerby, North Yorkshire. Jasmine is honoured to be a Squadron Sailing Associate of the Royal Yacht Squadron and is a member of the Ocean Cruising Club. She was a Rotary UK Young Citizen of the year 2023 and is a member of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland. She has previously raised over £30k for environmental and humanitarian charities. She works as a swimming teacher and lifeguard.
The Mini Globe Race is a low tech, everyman boat race. All boats are of the same design, many are hand-built by their skipper. More information on Mini Globe Race – Small Boat. Huge Adventure.
The Row, 2020-2021:
La Gomera to Antigua, 3,000 miles solo, 70 days, aged 21 years, Guiness World Record for youngest solo female to row any ocean.
Jasmine’s start was slow, she got caught in a storm not too long after which took her further backwards than she could ever row in a day, her morale was as deep as the water in which she was afloat. Over the following weeks, Jasmine was greeted with beautiful skies, magical dolphins and magnificent whales. During the row there were a few hairy moments, like nearly being run down by an 800ft tanker ship in the middle of the night, capsizing travelling at 19.2 knots, losing equipment overboard, and the constant mental battle with food, not being able to eat her ration packs and instead surviving on chocolate!
The Swim 2022:
Lands End, England to John O’Groats, Scotland, 900 miles, 109 days, Guiness World Record, first female to swim LEJOG
Jasmine swam for between 6 and 12 hours a day, dropping in the sea, day and night from her support yacht with her support kayaker by her side. During her swim, Jasmine dealt with bad weather (probably an obvious for being in the UK!), jellyfish stings, wetsuit chafe, having the life scared out of her by whales swimming under her in the dark, basking sharks, ferries, being accompanied by dolphins, swimming through the Corryvreckan whirlpools, passing through the largest ever combined NATO exercise off Cape Wrath with live firing overhead exploding on the cliff face, and constant logistical challenges.
The Sail 2024-2026:
In a homemade 19 foot long sailboat, solo.
Transat Qualifier:
Dec 2024-Jan 2025, Lagos, Portugal to Lanzarote, Canary Islands, 627nm
In one word this sail was an ordeal! Jasmine set off from Lagos with 4m high waves washing over the side of the boat and 25-30 knot winds on the beam (side) of the boat. Jasmine was literally learning the ropes and sails, taking a hit on the head from the boom.
Globe 580 Transat, Jan 2025, Lanzarote to Antigua, 2865nm:
Jasmine felt much more confident heading into this sail. Not only had her boat, Numbatou, already sailed this route in 2021, Jasmine had also rowed it solo in her ocean rowing boat Argo in 2020-21. Progress was good each day, some days with almost 120nm. There were lots of sail changes, more routine and sleep. The arrival into Antigua was at dawn with a fantastic sunrise backdrop and accompanied by a rainbow. This girl was on fire! Jasmine declared that rowing the Atlantic was harder than sailing it, and she’d really enjoyed this leg.
Mini Globe Race:
Leg 1, Feb 2025, Antigua to Panama, 1179nm
After a brilliant start Jasmine had a great sail across to Panama. The conditions were mostly favourable until just 24 hours before due to make port at Shelter Bay when yet again the wind dropped and the ETA extended and extended and there were many very large ships to avoid.
Leg 2 March 2025 Panama to Fiji, pit stops in the Marquesas Islands, Tahiti and Tonga arriving in Fiji in July 2025.
This leg across the Pacific Ocean saw her becalmed and even going backwards through the doldrums, crossing the Equator, sharing her boat with Booby birds near the Galapagos Islands, fierce squalls, high winds and waves, being becalmed before Fiji with dolphins and finally passing the notorious Cloudbreak reef to enter Fiji in the dark to be greeted by a traditional Fijian choir on the dockside.
Leg 3 , July 2025, currently sailing Fiji to Cape Town with pitstops in Thursday Island, Cocos Keeling, Mauritius and Durban.
Leg 4, December 2025 Jasmine will set sail from Cape Town to Recife, with plans to stop in St Helena. Leg 5 , February 2026 Jasmine will set sail from Recife to Antigua, arriving in March 2026.
Advice to Others:
Just go for it. If you don’t try you won’t succeed. Don’t be afraid to break out of stereotype, and away from the influence of social media and peer pressure. Listen to advice but make your own decisions.
