A British dad has set sail from Canada in a one-metre-long boat as he attempts to cross the Atlantic Ocean in the slightest ever vessel.
It may sound like a daunting feat, but Andrew Bedwell, 49, said he was feeling “quite chilled” about his 1,900-mile solo trip to the British Isles.
The mariner, who left St John’s, Newfoundland on Saturday, spent three years hand-building his fibreglass micro-yacht – named Big C – in the garage of his home in Scarisbrick, Lancashire.
In an interview last year with Practical Boat Owner magazine, Bedwell said he’d named the boat after his friend Tom McNally, who helped him design and build the boat before dying of cancer.
Bedwell came up with his idea after reading a book by current record holder Hugo Vihlen, who made the dangerous crossing in a 1.6-metre boat 30 years ago.
Now, he will learn how his vessel – which measures 3.5m tall and has a top speed of 2.5mph – will cope with the worst weather the Atlantic can throw at him.
Brit Sets Out on Epic Journey Across the Atlantic in One-Metre Boat
Bedwell only needs to reach a point within 50 miles of the West of Ireland to claim the record, but he hopes to finish in Falmouth harbour in late August this year.
He expects to face at least five storms during his three-month trip – comparing it to being “stuck in a wheelie bin, on a fracas for 90 days”.
Bedwell, who wanted to take on a “big challenge” before turning 50, will survive on vitamin-based drinks and food bags made of beef jerky, raisins, and fat, which have been moulded into the walls of his cabin.
Just before setting off, Bedwell said: “I’m pretty chilled. I feel good, and it’s time to go.
“Everything has pulled together exceptionally well; there’s nothing that I am apprehensive of on the vessel at all. Everything has gone to plan.
I’ve gone over and above what I must do for the trip. But you never know you could hit an iceberg.”
An intrepid nautical adventurer who hoped to break the world record for the intersection of the Atlantic in the smallest-ever boat has been forced to turn back after the vessel started taking on water.
British Adventurer Aims to Break Record with Transatlantic Crossing
Andrew Bedwell planned to make a 1,900-mile solo trip across the Atlantic Ocean in his three-foot by 11ft fibreglass yacht – built in his garage, which he likened to a ‘wheelie bin’.
But after launching in Newfoundland, Canada, on Saturday, the 49-year-old noticed his boat – named ‘Big C’ – had water coming on board, and he returned to land soon afterwards.
Mr Bedwell, who works as a yacht and sailmaker, plans to make modifications and relaunch the boat, which took three years to build and has a top speed of two-and-a-half miles per hour.
He hopes to cross in three months and arrive off the coast of Ireland.
Mr Bedwell, the father of a ten-year-old daughter Poppy, has spent his career making sails and delivering yachts worldwide.
Though the voyage is daunting, he has previous experience as a proven sailor who has previously navigated around Britain and journeyed into the frozen reaches of the Arctic Circle.
Before his aborted launch, he said: ‘You never know, you could hit an iceberg. The Titanic was considered unsinkable, but it hit one, and there are a lot of icebergs out there.
Determined Brit Attempts Record-Breaking Atlantic Crossing in Tiny Boat
‘But I wanted a big challenge before I am 50 – and I am taking on a huge challenge in a tiny vessel.’
He said his ‘biggest apprehension’ was probably encountering a storm in his tiny vessel.
Next spring, British sailor Andrew Bedwell will try to break the record for the boat across the Atlantic in a ship that’s just 39 inches long. That’s right: 3’3″, roughly the size of a large suitcase.
Bedwell, 48, will set off from St. Johns, Newfoundland, in May and make the dangerous 1,900-mile crossing to Lizard Point in Cornwall on England’s west coast; expect to set a new record for the smallest vessel to ever sail across the Pond.
“I’m under no illusions that it’s going to be easy. But I’ve taken on unusual challenges all my life, though this is the ultimate,” Bedwell told Robb Report. He adds: “My wife thinks I’m crazy.”
