3 sources · updated 24 Oct 2026
Born in 1980, Aurelia "Lia" Ditton grew up in south London and then Suffolk. A fine art graduate, she turned early to offshore sailing and crossed the Atlantic in 2002 aboard the trimaran Moxie.
In 2005 she finished 4th in the multihull class of the singlehanded OSTAR, the only woman and youngest entrant. In 2006 she started the Route du Rhum on a 40-footer named Dangerous When Wet, one of five women entered, and finished second in her class in just over 25 days. The boat was lost at sea off Bermuda in May 2007.
She then raced the 2007 Transpac on the trimaran LoeReal before focusing on ocean rowing: an Atlantic crossing in a pair in 2010, then a women's solo record from California to Hawaii in 2020 (86 days).