Team Pacific Rowers were taking part in a race between California and Hawaii when their vessel began taking in water about 100 miles from shore.
Rower Sam Collins, 25, from Cornwall, said: "It's really frustrating because we are a great team and it is only the equipment which let us down."
The rowers were airlifted to safety by US coastguards on Saturday.
Mr Collins, Fraser Hart 34, from Tunbridge Wells, James White, 36, from London and Colin Parker, 36, from New Zealand, were taking part in the Great Pacific Race.
The Pacific Rowers team set off on Wednesday to row 2,400 miles (3,862km) from Monterey in California to Honolulu.
Former BBC Guernsey journalist Mr Collins said: "The first couple of days were great. Team spirits were good. We were getting used to life on the boat.
"But the sea conditions were quite rough and worsening.
"Then late in the second day, out at sea, we started realising that water was permeating into the cabin.
"It just got worse and worse."
The crew used an electric bilge pump to keep the problem at bay but the water kept coming in.
Water eventually got into all the internal lockers and the boat was so low in the water that waves were crashing over it continuously, Mr Collins said.
"The boat had been through severe testing but in some places it was permeating through the side of the boat because of the force of the waves," he added.
The team called for assistance and a support boat reached them 10 hours later.
But with waves of 20ft (6m) and gale-force winds, it was decided that the safest rescue was by coastguard helicopter.
In darkness, a helicopter winched the crew to safety.
"I cannot talk highly enough about the coastguards," he said.
The team is now considering entering the 2016 event.
"We are very disappointed, a lot of effort went into this," said Mr Collins.

Prison Officers Association members will withdraw from voluntary duties, including manning "Tornado" teams which respond to outbreaks of disorder.
An overtime ban will also be phased in from April.
The government said such action was "unlawful" and it would seek an injunction to stop it happening.
From Wednesday, staff are being instructed to withdraw from a range of voluntary roles, which also include working as a first aider or hostage negotiator.
However, the POA said its members would respond if lives were at risk.
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The BBC's home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said the planned overtime ban could cause serious problems in jails that are short of staff and struggling to fill vacancies.
In a briefing paper seen by the BBC, the union said: "The POA condemns the systematic failure of Noms (National Offender Management Service) to provide safe, decent and secure prisons, failures which have created a prison service in crisis.
"More and more members are being assaulted every day, the increase in self-inflicted deaths and daily security breaches are unacceptable and as a result of staff shortfalls and budget cuts."
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said it had made a "good offer" to the union in December, which was endorsed by its leaders, but not members.
"We are working hard to retain the invaluable experience within our workforce and want to recognise the expertise and dedication of prison staff," he said.
Last week, ministers said pay rises of up to Â£5,000 would be given to some officers at 31 prisons in London and south-east England with recruitment problems.
But the POA said the pay rise had "incensed" its members, many of whom would not benefit.
In November, thousands of prison officers staged a 24-hour strike because of health and safety concerns.
The High Court ordered the POA to suspend the protest and talks later took place with the government, focusing on pay and pensions.
The Ministry of Justice announced last month that the National Offender Management Service would be scrapped and replaced with a new prison and probation service aimed at cutting crime and reforming offenders.
One of four rowers rescued from the Pacific said extreme weather conditions had exposed weaknesses in their boat.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
A fresh wave of industrial action will be held in jails in England and Wales in a dispute over pay and pensions, the prison officers' union has said.