Fernandina Beach resident Paul Lore and British rowing partner Dawn Smith set three Guinness World Records after rowing 2,500 nautical miles across the North Atlantic in their ocean-rowing boat, Penny B.

The pair departed St. John's, Newfoundland, on June 26 and spent 50 days at sea before the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) towed them into Newlyn Harbour in southwest England at about 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 16. Dangerous currents and the risk of being swept toward rocks forced them to call for help just eight miles from shore, the Fernandina Observer reported.

The Ocean Rowing Society International, which adjudicates Guinness World Records for ocean rowing, later confirmed the tow did not invalidate the crossing. The records were set after 48 days, 7 hours, 47 minutes and 55 seconds on the official trip clock. Smith now holds the women's record for most ocean rows at seven and the greatest total distance rowed at 16,815 nautical miles. She and Lore are the first mixed pair to row the North Atlantic from west to east, the Florida Times-Union reported.

"After how I felt … following our arrival in Newlyn, having the governing body confirm that the subsequent tow was insignificant to the completed ocean crossing has completely put that moment to bed," Smith said, according to the Times-Union. "The records stand."

Lore, 63, served eight years in the Marine Corps and spent 30 years as a federal air traffic controller before retiring. He is also an ordained minister. Smith, 50, is a retired British police boat skipper who holds a British Empire Medal for maritime service and runs a sea school for ocean rowing and navigation training. The two met in 2023 while participating in a Pacific Ocean row with different crews.

Their expedition, called The Hometown Row, connects Lore's hometown of Fernandina Beach with Smith's hometown of Burnham-on-Crouch, England. It raises money for three organizations: Phoenix Heroes, a British veterans' charity; K9s For Warriors, a Ponte Vedra-based nonprofit that provides trained service dogs to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury; and Penny's Flight, which supports children and families affected by neurofibromatosis.

The final hours tested both rowers. Beginning around 9 a.m. on Aug. 15, a tidal current exceeding 3 knots pushed against Penny B. Lore and Smith rowed side by side for roughly 12 hours, at times pulling only to slow how fast the current pushed them backward.

Smith had gone more than 24 hours without sleep when she called for assistance. She said she was in pain, exhausted and starting to shake. The Penlee RNLI lifeboat crew, dispatched by the Falmouth Coastguard shortly after 11 p.m. on Aug. 15, reached the pair and towed Penny B to safety. The lifeboat station reported the rowers were fatigued, cold and struggling against the conditions.

During the broader crossing, the pair survived a knockdown that rolled the boat onto its side, broke oars and deployed their parachute anchor repeatedly. They maintained three-hour rowing shifts around the clock for 50 days.

The North Atlantic leg was the second stage of The Hometown Row. In December 2025, Lore and Smith rowed from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua as part of the World's Toughest Row, setting a Guinness record as the fastest mixed pair to row the Atlantic east to west in 42 days, 4 hours and 19 minutes. A planned leg from Antigua to Florida was canceled because of weather.

A spokeswoman for the Ocean Rowing Society International said of the pair: "Paul is a beast, but Dawn is now officially the most prolific female ocean rower of all time, which is incredible," according to the Times-Union.

After recovering in Newlyn, Lore and Smith continued rowing along the English coast toward Burnham-on-Crouch. The Row Aurora Facebook page announced on Aug. 28 that the pair planned to arrive on Aug. 29. Whether they completed that final stretch had not been confirmed as of Aug. 30.