Andrew Bedwell aims to set a new world record by crossing the Atlantic in an armchair-sized boat. The 48-year-old Englishman is already preparing for this feat, aboard the tiny “Big C”, which the experienced sailor has built in his home for the past three years.
Currently, Bidwell is conducting stability tests at sea, more specifically in the Whitehaven region of England. These are necessary preparations for the transatlantic flight, scheduled to begin in May 2023.
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The adventurer seeks funding to implement the challenge, including a campaign on GoFundMe platform, which was set up last month and has raised just £900 of its £35,000 target so far. This means something like BRL 5,713 out of the total required of R$ 222,184 in amounts transferred today (23). What is collected will be used by a “chair” sailor for electronics, safety equipment, propaganda work, fuel for a support ship etc.
140cm boat sails across the Atlantic Ocean
The Big C is made of carbon fiber, weighs 600 kg and is only 140 cm long. In short, there is enough space for him to sit, but not to stretch his legs (“rest” that seems even smaller than in an armchair). Bidwell estimates that his record search trip will take 60 to 90 days, as the boat moves at 4.7 km/h.
In its structure there is one double-headed mast and a protective canopy. A strong, transparent dome that leaves only the head of the sea visible to those around it. The boat also has solar panels aft, an inboard crank generator and all the equipment needed for the transatlantic voyage to be made legal.
These are items such as a tracking system, automatic identification system (AIS), VHF radio, a dedicated compass, two rudders, and a hand-pumped desalination unit. However, due to the very small size of the Big C, there is no bathroom, and toilet paper will not be taken on the small boat.
Roller Coaster “Into the Trash”
The crossing would be like “staying in a trash, on a serpentine train for 90 days,” Bidwell jokes about the vehicle’s limited size. Their food will be based on protein bars properly distributed over the walls of the small bowl, one for each day of the task. The adventurer will also take a set of clothes (and possibly a toothbrush), without soap for hygiene and without any kind of electronic device to distract himself a bit with music or something (when the ocean is calm).
In a small bottle of spices, the adventurer will carry the ashes of Tom McNally, who died in 2017. The English sailor also broke the record for crossing the Atlantic with the smallest boat, in 1993 (with a 162cm boat that served as the basis for Bedwell’s Big C design).
This would be a tribute that was promised to McNally’s daughter. Speaking of records, the current crossing of this crossing with the smallest ship belongs to the American Hugo Vihlen, with a vehicle just under a millimeter, on a voyage made in the same year of 1993.
The 3,058 km journey will start in Newfoundland, Canada and end in Cornwall, UK. You can accompany the adventurer in his country Facebook page. And there’s also a charitable fund in this adventure: The money Andrew Bidwell raised in the challenge will go to cancer research, another tribute to McNally, who died of kidney cancer.
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