In pictures: 'Euphoric' Maclean brothers reach Australia after setting new world record in Pacific row

There will be celebrations in Cairns, Australia all weekend long as three Scottish brothers set a new world record crossing the Pacific in a rowing boat.

Jamie, Ewan and Lachlan Maclean made landfall on Saturday, August 30 just at 1.52am BST, marking the end of the 139-day, five hour and 52 minute journey crossing the world’s largest ocean.

The Edinburgh-born team is the first team ever recorded to row from South America to Australia.

The previous record was held by Russian Fedor Konyukhov, who rowed 7,393 miles from Chile to Australia over 159 days and 16 hours and 58 minutes in 2014.

Arriving on Australian shores following their 9,000-mile journey, the Scots were reunited with more than 50 family and friends who made the trip from the UK, including mother Sheila.

Middle brother Jamie, 31, described the moment they first spotted land on the horizon as “euphoric”.

“We were all worried, you know – we were fighting the east Australian current,” he told the BBC’s Breakfast programme on Saturday.

“So, we have three up on the oars – of course, you’re facing backwards.

“You row for a couple hours, then maybe scoff down some food, rehydrate, keep rowing … So you pass about 20 nautical miles, you don’t get up.

“We looked up, we didn’t see much on the horizon – row, row, row.

“And then little by little, you see a faint smudge appear. And you think, is that…?

“You kind of pinch yourself, and you chat, and you’re like, ‘nah, it’s just a cloud’.

“And you go back down, you row, row, row, and at that point, actually, night descended, so we went on to our night shifts and it wasn’t till the morning after, as the sun rose, we could see the hills of Cairns.

“What a euphoric moment that was on board.”