
42-inch yacht still hoping to become the smallest boat to cross the Atlantic - tim_garcia
http://www.yachtingworld.com/extraordinary-boats/undaunted-the-42-inch-yacht-still-hoping-to-become-the-smallest-boat-ever-to-cross-the-atlantic-107559
======
esaym
Hope he makes it but doesn't sound like it will be very fun.

I enjoyed watching a documentary ( "Maidentrip"
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2555268](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2555268) )
about a young girl that sailed around the world just for fun. She did it in an
older boat with limited electronics on board and had fun and made frequent
stops just to visit other cultures.

Contrasted with another young girl ( "Wildeyes"
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1939787/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1939787/) )
that did it for a record's sake, on a modern boat, with multiple sponsors,
packed with electronics (all of which failed) and ultimately capsized in the
Indian ocean.

And another good one was "Deep Water" (
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460766/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460766/) )
where a man tried to win an "around the world" yacht race (for a business
venture) but ultimately went insane and jumped overboard.

~~~
Cognitron
Yeah, probably not very fun. My dad is currently crossing the Atlantic in a
boat that's about 42 feet, not inches. Just got an email from the Azores (he's
going from Florida to Portugal) and said he's changing his route due to force
8-9 winds and 6-10 meter waves.

~~~
reneherse
No fun, and likely life threatening. With a max speed of about 2 1/2 knots
with a clean hull, the little boat isn't fast enough to sail out of the way of
heavy weather.

Once in a big storm, I can't even imagine the beating one would take inside
that tiny craft, sliding down the face of a monster wave, crashing into the
trough at the bottom, getting rolled. But perhaps his hull and rig design
isn't subject to the same broaching and capsizing forces as a larger
monohull...

I'm curious to read more about the design of the boat, his equipment,
procedures and planning. Though it's best not to judge from a mere photo,
there were several things visible in the images of the craft and video of his
attempted departure that seemed counter to good seamanship.

~~~
Cognitron
Yeah, a boat that short has no speed whatsoever. And being exposed to the
elements for that long. No shelter from wind and rain. Sleeping like that. But
if he makes it, good for him. Holy shit.

~~~
andrewflnr
Uh, he has shelter from wind and rain. There's a waterproof hatch into the
interior. Did I misunderstand you?

~~~
ezequiel-garzon
Somebody has to be outside the hatch in a storm, to try to keep the boat from
tipping over.

~~~
dreamcompiler
"With a balance point about 16in above the keel and a 5ft draught he has a
stability profile most designers would kill for."

That boat's not tipping over.

~~~
LoSboccacc
until big jumps between waves deform the light hull and the seals start
leaking

~~~
VLM
Its a non-moored mooring buoy... if anything can survive, that design will.

------
twic
The Undaunted has a laden weight of 1800 pounds [1].

The largest ship, the Pioneering Spirit, displaces 932,000 tonnes [2].

The Pioneering Spirit is over a million times larger than the Undaunted.

I have been unable to determine how their nutella reserves compare.

[1]
[https://littleboatproject.org/specs/](https://littleboatproject.org/specs/)

[2] [https://www.deltamarin.com/references/pioneering-spirit-
piet...](https://www.deltamarin.com/references/pioneering-spirit-pieter-
schelte-pipelay-vessel/)

~~~
iammyIP
I am always annoyed when information about interesting engineering projects is
cluttered with overly complicated (but beautiful) imperial units. It's a
guarantee to make an article look shallow and trivialised.

Here's a very simple example why Metric is better:

Length: 1m Draught: 1.5 cubic meters Density of salt water is a bit over 1.0

How heavy can the Undaughted get untill it sinks? Easy to answer in metric,
since 1.5 cubic meters equal to 1500 kg of water.

Looking at the weight: 544kg unladen, or 816kg laden, means it is about half
as dense overall as it's draught in water.

Everybody can do that calculation while reading the article in a second, and
these conversions get second nature soon. Impossible with imperial.

------
tedmiston
> Provisions are stowed under Kent’s feet. “I have enough food – half freeze-
> dried – for six months at 1,500 calories a day. I have intentionally put on
> 20 extra pounds for the trip as well.

> “My diet consists of nuts, dried fruit, protein powder, nutrition bars, a
> variety of soups, stews, pasta, peanut butter, Nutella and so on. I have a
> huge variety as well as 64,000 extra calories in the form of two gallons of
> olive oil to add to my food.

> “None of my food needs cooking but I do have a 12V/120W heat coil wand to
> heat water for dinner or tea or coffee, if I can afford the power. With a
> two-minute boil time I should be able to use it often. All of this fits in
> the bilge and down the keel.”

I wondered how he did food. And how he has pasta that doesn't need cooked but
lasts six months.

~~~
bradly
Lots of dried foods like ramen, beans, mashed potatoes, etc will hydrate
without hot water. It takes more time, but works well. These no-cook setups
are used by many long trail thru-hikers that choose not to bother with stoves
and fuel.

~~~
dstroot
I actually hiked with a person who "cooked" or rehydrated meals by putting the
ingredients in a sealed plastic bag and then putting that in his underwear.
Seriously.

~~~
mowenz
Perhaps a clever, yet obviously comedic, idea. But which foods will cook at a
warm temperature that wont at a cold?

~~~
pvg
There is no cooking involved in those cases, just rehydration. It just happens
faster at higher temperatures. And it's less unpleasant than eating ice-cold.

~~~
mowenz
Yes, I should have used prepare in place of cook, as cooking requires heat.

------
wand3r
I first thought, oh cool project; an autonomous drone boat must be pretty hard
to build and manage. Probably a final for school or a robotics group.

...Nope. The kid is actually trying to pilot it himself. 48" boat. Honestly,
wonder which challenge is harder. I know which one I'd prefer.

~~~
mejari
He's 33, hardly a "kid"

~~~
cylinder
My pet peeve. In graduate school we had professors, lecturers, working
professionals etc constantly calling us students "kids" even though we were
all 25+ yrs old. I believe this is a pretty American thing to always be
infantilizing people.

~~~
manmal
Yes, like calling grown women "girl", or calling partners "babe"/"bae". In
German this would sound very, very off.

~~~
bananasbandanas
Not really. Calling your girlfriend 'Baby' or refering to a girls-night-out as
'Mädelsabend' are perfectly common for example.

I agree though that I never heard a professor refer to his students in this
way and would definitively find it strange if that happened.

~~~
manmal
"Baby" does not count because it's not German, and it can be traced back
directly to imported pop culture (Movies). You are right about "Mädels", it's
not exactly the same as "girl" though (rather girly) - you would never say
"Mädchenabend", that's cringy.

------
sehugg
Its keel has an emergency water tank slung off the bottom -- clever. Keeps the
center of gravity low as possible.

Good thing he has experience with meditation and living along, it's going to
be a miserable trip. If a storm rolls through he might be holed up in the tiny
cabin for days.

------
aidos
Slightly OT - For anyone who doesn't know what modern sailing looks like here
are a couple of promo clips from the teams racing the Americas Cup in the
coming months.

The boats fly rather than sail these days. They're an amazing leap in design.

[http://www.yachtingworld.com/americas-
cup/107565-107565](http://www.yachtingworld.com/americas-cup/107565-107565)

[https://www.landrover.co.uk/experience-
landrover/sponsorship...](https://www.landrover.co.uk/experience-
landrover/sponsorship/gallery/bar2016-hero-gallery.html/295-354160)

~~~
manarth
Describing the Americas Cup yachts as "modern sailing" is akin to describing
F1 as "modern motoring" or the Cray Titan as "modern computing".

They're amazing feats of engineering, but not really representative of current
usage.

~~~
cjlars
There are a few consumer grade foiling catamarans, but yea, you won't see much
foiling on your average day out on the water.

~~~
Drdrdrq
Yet. Given obvious upsides this technology will soon become much more common.
Imho of course.

------
Someone
This 'yacht' is as wide as it is long and deeper under water than it is long.
It also, if I understand things correctly, drags its emergency water tank
along, and has 'saddle bags' that also are outside that 42 by 42 inch square.

I think they should measure these ships by underwater volume at time of
departure.

Otherwise, the next 'yacht' will be a foot long and wide but 20 feet high,
most of it underwater, and some brave/suicidal soul will volunteer to 'sail'
it.

~~~
mejari
And what would be wrong with that? The goal is to have the shortest length of
boat, a common measurement in boating. Obviously to achieve that you have to
be clever with the attributes of the boat not under restriction. I'm sure no
one would complain if you went for the "lowest underwater volume at time of
departure" record, but I don't see how it's relevant here.

~~~
basicplus2
A submarine shouldn't really count

~~~
appleiigs
I wonder if there is there a record for smallest submarine?

------
ptaipale
This reminds me of the crossing that two Finnish lads made in 1970 using
Marino Mustang, a 4.3 m plastic motorboat, from Dakar to Guyana.

The remarkable thing is that they did not have nearly enough petrol for the
trip -- they left off and when they ran out, they signaled passing larger
ships to beg for more. They had a small amateurish sail which was useless.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtEQGPBMI64](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtEQGPBMI64)

------
sleighboy
[https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:48...](https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:4878972/imo:0/mmsi:367771120/vessel:UNDAUNTED/_:1c67c02fbb0a9b45126eb1cafec415db)

------
CodeWriter23
I see, he's not at all concerned about losing his mind spending four grueling
months in a 42" x 42" area.

~~~
Johnny555
He has a swimming harness so he can get out and stretch his legs once in a
while.

------
gozur88
I know it's the original headline but this kind thing irks me. The creator of
the boat is hoping to cross the Atlantic. The _boat_ is a thing and doesn't
have hopes.

Pretty cool project, though.

~~~
mynewtb
It's a common way to talk about ships and their crews like that. The boat is
the whole.

~~~
gozur88
I have never seen it when there was only one person on the boat.

~~~
paulddraper
And I've never seen a 42 inch boat.

------
Semiapies
Web site for the project itself:
[https://littleboatproject.org](https://littleboatproject.org)

------
yardie
On a side note. We were one of the first boats to visit the new marina in La
Gomera. It's fantastic diving and the water is the coolest blue you will ever
sea. On land. The island is very rustic and undeveloped. They have a project
wind farm that uses gravity storage to power the entire island. It's not the
easiest island to get to but it is worth the trip.

~~~
smnplk
Damn I need to visit La Gomera one time, I spent 2 months on Tenerife, but
didn't visit it even once. I am going there to do some cycling next time.

~~~
gpvos
It's generally marketed for walking, as far as I've seen.

------
edraferi
This sounds awesome

> Undaunted is a terrible boat, but he is a great storm shelter. A sailing
> capsule ready for the worst and also able to do the easy part, sailing in a
> straight line.

So basically it's about surviving indefinitely while drifting in the right
direction. Why does anyone do this voluntarily.

> Kent says he is unconcerned about the psychological challenge of living in
> such a small space for four months.

> “I have spent weeks alone in the Guatemalan Highlands, and lived alone in
> the woods for years. I have never been so alone or for so long, but few
> have.

Ah.

~~~
dmurray
> Undaunted is a terrible boat, but he is a great storm shelter

Anyone know is there an intentional reason to use "he" for the boat here?
Normally sailing vessels are female in English and this was jarring to me, but
it looks intended.

~~~
edraferi
Yeah I also noticed that. No idea why.

------
gpvos
42 inch = 1.07 m

------
randlet
Fairly irrelevant but I've only ever heard boats referred to in feminine terms
and he called his yacht a "he". Is this more common than I've been led to
believe?

~~~
clort
Some languages (German, I believe) refer to boats as male.

~~~
anarazel
Not really. The noun "ship" is neuter (das Schiff), and most boats are
referred to in female form.

------
evincarofautumn
Can a nautical someone explain why the crossing is estimated to take 3–4
months? I thought a crossing from the Canaries to the Caribbean was just a few
weeks under good downwind sail.

~~~
crdb
Hull speed (maximum speed for a non-planing aka "displacement" hull) is
proportional to the square root of the length of the hull. The article says he
has a "hull speed of just 2.5 knots". Most (well, all) crossings are done on
much longer boats.

~~~
tgb
Wikipedia on Hull Speed [1] is very interesting:

> Though the term "hull speed" seems to suggest that it is some sort of "speed
> limit" for a boat, in fact drag for a displacement hull increases smoothly
> and at an increasing rate with speed as hull speed is approached and
> exceeded, often with no noticeable inflection at hull speed.

Which makes it sound like Hull Speed is not very relevant to look at, but
later it also says:

> This very sharp rise in resistance at around a speed-length ratio of 1.3 to
> 1.5 [where hull speed is reach] probably seemed insurmountable in early
> sailing ships and so became an apparent barrier. This leads to the concept
> of 'hull speed'.

The page on Wave-Makign Resistance is related [2]. So it sounds like hull
speed is not a hard limit (and is surpassed easily in powered boats or in
specific boat designs like racing kayaks) but would be a reasonable upper
bound for how fast this particular yatch could go even though nothing truly
specific changes right at hull speed. Can anyone elaborate?

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_speed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_speed)
[2] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave-
making_resistance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave-making_resistance)

~~~
crdb
It's a useful rule of thumb in terms of "where you'll stop accelerating with
the wind on a normal boat", not absolute hard limit. You can play with length
to start planing earlier which is the source of many a fun design (e.g. [1]).
Some boats don't have a hull [2].

There's many other variables (weight, beam, etc.), here's a fun one: we once
rented a 25 footer mostly because it was incredibly cheap (something like 150
EUR for a week). It was surprisingly slow for its size, even in fairly
involved wind where we needed engine help to tack it had trouble breaking past
5-6 knots, to the amusement of not-much-larger yachts that overtook us like a
German traveling salesman on the Autobahn. I took a dive under to see what was
up with the hull and was faced with a scene not too different from the rocky
bottom of the sea: barnacles, algae, some of them trailing foot long
appendices...

The OP "yacht" is very strange to me as it looks like the guy put a keel and a
sail on a buoy. The sailing dynamics appear to involve pitching forward
instead of heeling (leaning sideways). I'm amazed he can do as much as 2.4
knots.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CbJS_ZHs6g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CbJS_ZHs6g)
(Formula windsurfing)

[2]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7ie5C1-b3w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7ie5C1-b3w)
(Mirabaud LX: foiler, without hull)

~~~
wycx
> The OP "yacht" is very strange to me as it looks like the guy put a keel and
> a sail on a buoy.

The photos on this [1] page make me think of a keel welded to a sandblasting
cabinet...

[1] [https://carrie-soltis.squarespace.com/specs](https://carrie-
soltis.squarespace.com/specs)

------
int_19h
I'm curious about these claims:

> He just bobs up and down. With a balance point about 16in above the keel and
> a 5ft draught he has a stability profile most designers would kill for.
> ndaunted is a terrible boat, but he is a great storm shelter. A sailing
> capsule ready for the worst and also able to do the easy part, sailing in a
> straight line.

How true is this? If it is, wouldn't the same hull profile be beneficial for
lifeboats?

~~~
manmal
I assume that this would make life boats too heavy since they would need a
very heavy keel. They often don't even have a keel IIRC, which makes them
easier to handle and store.

~~~
radiowave
Right. And if the keel was anything like Undaunted's, there'd be a major risk
of it being damaged if the lifeboat ever had to be launched by dropping it
into the water (rather than lowering it gently).

------
ReligiousFlames
Having great grandparents from Nantucket who's 7 family members died at sea
while working as crab fishermen, it's seems reasonable this is a publicity
stunt or he has absolutely no respect for how violent and unforgiving is the
ocean.

~~~
driverdan
He's a professional sailor. He knows what he's doing.

~~~
ReligiousFlames
So were many the hundreds of thousands of sailors whom have died at sea. The
ocean doesn't care about experience or arrogance when a storm comes up and
drowns this guy, or the great deal of money and risk to rescuers this clown
imposes should he manage to somehow not die.

------
Johnny555
It has squared off corners in the front... I know nothing about boats, but
couldn't he have have reduced drag a bit by at least rounding off the front
corners or cutting them off at a 45 degree angle -- I'm not suggesting
tapering the entire front, but just rounding off 6 - 12" from the edges seems
like it would help? This would reduce the interior space a bit but gaining
even 1% better speed on a 90 day journey seems quite significant.

The only similarly shaped hulls I can think of are barges, but they are towed
by 1000 horsepower tugboats.

~~~
Johnny555
Not sure why I was down voted, is it well known that the common tapered hull
shape is not any more efficient and faster than a squared off hull?

I didn't see any details in the article or website about the design other than
that it was designed to pitch rather than roll, and tapering the front seems
like it would just add to this effect.

I wish the downvoter had just said "Dumb question, everyone knows that hull
shape doesn't matter on a small boat" or "He covered this exact question on
his website" or given some indication why they felt this was not an
appropriate question

~~~
BugsJustFindMe
I think I can help you out here.

> _" I know nothing about boats, but...I...suggest...rounding off 6 - 12" from
> the edges."_

That man is a professional sailor, and you know nothing about boats. I think
that people don't like when a person who knows nothing decides that they know
better.

> _Not sure why I was down voted_... _I wish the downvoter had_...

Please don't do this. HN comment guidelines (
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)
) say "Please resist commenting about being downvoted. It never does any good,
and it makes boring reading."

------
walkingolof
Here is a small boat project that is done by a veteran, Sven Yrvind, its a
5.76 x 1 meter boat he will sail around the world, its not his first time in a
small boat in the big seas either, read more here:

[http://www.yrvind.com/present_project/](http://www.yrvind.com/present_project/)

------
pavement
But why call it a yacht? While technically correct, it does not seem to embody
the spirit of the word.

~~~
soneil
Because it's a British magazine.

In the British usage of the word, a sailboat is a dinghy if it's open-top, and
yacht if it has an enclosed cabin. He can close his hatch creating a sealed
interior, so it's a yacht. (We very rarely use 'sailboat' alone, as Americans
do.)

In the US usage, the term 'yacht' seems to be mired in classism and elitism. A
boat is french's mustard, and a yacht is grey poupon. There's no simple
definition to tell you when a vessel is one or the other.

Quite bizarre - given that America traditionally imagines herself as
classless, you'd almost expect these two to be reversed.

~~~
cat199
> given that America traditionally imagines herself as classless, you'd almost
> expect these two to be reversed.

In my view more that americans of all classes view themselves in some way as
part of an unified 'rebellious'/'underdog' class.. so most anything that
sticks out as having any pretence is 'elitist'.. nevermind that this attitude
itself has it's own flavor of pretense to false-humility.. but I digress..

------
trhway
...

Standing on the ocean side

We can hear the waves

Calling us out with tide

To sail into our fate

Oden! Guide our ships

... (c) Amon Amarth

~~~
mindcrime
A ship approaches off the starboard bow

The time has come to fight, the time to strike is now

Reload the cannons, and sharpen up your swords

They will regret the day they faced the pirate horde

Who will survive no-one can tell

Come on, lets give 'em hell

... (c) Alestorm

~~~
cjslep
Alas! The Marquesas!

Shun the beckoning land!

Choose the open sea instead

To whatever end!

Took down to wondrous depths

Sullen we did go

Where shapes of unwarped primal

Gliding to and fro

... (c) Ahab

------
6stringmerc
"Quit playing with your dinghy!"[1]

[1] Tommy Boy -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=vfLGKYsrCe4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=vfLGKYsrCe4)

------
jakeogh
Any more videos?

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slqfSRBFqDg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slqfSRBFqDg)

------
saintPirelli
How is he planning to go to the bathroom though?

~~~
saboot
I mean, he's in the middle of an ocean.. Just lean overboard.

------
quickben
Is that smaller hatch connected to anything when open? Looking at the pictures
it's just waiting to be lost somewhere.

------
slyrus
Where's the head on this boat?

------
mhh__
Spinal Tap Atlantic tour?

------
ianamartin
Now do it during Atlantic hurricane season.

------
chronic940
Taxpayers spend millions saving drug users in hospitals for their stupid
decisions.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
And strangely, a lot of people think we should both do that for free (at
everyone else's expense) and that we should legalize the drugs that put them
there.

I admit I am still a bit torn on the former. I do consider addiction to be a
medical condition, and drug users in need of treatment. The question is where
personal responsibility should factor in. At some point, if you do drugs,
there was a good chance you were dumb enough to start doing them.

~~~
kazinator
Legalization would help with the problem.

Let's make an analogy with alcohol. When alcohol isn't illegal, there is a
quality supply of it. When you buy a bottle of 40% whisky, you're not getting
something that might be 25% methanol due to some criminal doing an improper
job with the distilling, because he only cares about money, wiping out his
competitors, and evading the cops, with your health being at the bottom of his
priorities.

(Which is not to say, of course, that legal alcohol eliminates the public
health problem of alcoholism.)

~~~
ocdtrekkie
You are assuming the problem is "bad drugs" rather than the problem just being
the drugs.

~~~
vkou
Bad drugs are a huge problem, that kills many, many people. Fentanyl, anyone?

------
ceedan
what is the point

~~~
PhantomGremlin
This got downvoted, but IMO it's a legitimate question. Just because it's
possible to attempt something, doesn't mean that it should be done or that
it's a good idea.

Does anyone have any better answer than "to set a record", or "just because"?

I do give the guy props for taking it seriously. Given the constraints he has
imposed on himself he seems very well prepared. But, together with the parent
poster, I just can't see the point.

~~~
Jyalm
Why do people climb mountains? Why do people swim? Why do people build things?
Why do people bother getting up in the morning? What's the point in living?

I feel bad for putting it that way, especially if someone younger reads it,
because this can lead to developing a cynical world view that isn't
necessarily valid. I'm not trying to give you an existential crisis or
something, but go down the (thought) avenue completely if you're taking a trip
to that destination, don't just stop in the middle of the road. People do
things because they enjoy them or simply want to; life is hopefully enjoyable
for most, and then sadly but inevitably we all die one day.

~~~
BenjiWiebe
I'm often not sure why people bother getting up in the morning.

------
oculusthrift
these people sometimes bother me because when they got lost or trapped,
taxpayers then spend millions to save them.

~~~
nraynaud
It's interesting because I live in a country where being rescued is free as a
rule[1]. And I find it nice: I know that if shit happens in the mountains, the
helicopter will come, no need to be rich to hike or sail. And I'm happy to be
paying other people's rescue when they are in need. A couple friend of mine
had to call a rescue team when their rope got tangled when repealing down a
cliff, no need to feel bad.

[1]doesn't apply to ski resorts

~~~
ilanco
Which country is that? Does this rule apply to tourists as well?

~~~
nraynaud
France, and yes.

~~~
fian
France, like much of Europe, is well covered by towns and cities. So there is
often not a great distance for emergency services to cover which means the
cost of mounting a rescue will not be excessive.

As a counter point, Australia is sparsely populated. Apart from the coastal
cities it is often hundreds of kilometers between towns or road houses. So the
cost of mounting a land rescue can get into the tens of thousands of dollars.

Also there is a lot of ocean area for which Australia is the closest landmass.
There have been numerous ocean rescues mounted from Australia for sailors
competing in round the world races or record attempts, some of them soloists:

[http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/11/world/australia-rescues-
sa...](http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/11/world/australia-rescues-sailors-but-
is-wincing-at-the-costs.html)

[http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/family-cannot-afford-
to-p...](http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/family-cannot-afford-to-pay-back-
teen-sailor-abby-sunderlands-rescue-costs-mother/news-
story/471328db658e163b099684c848997591?sv=85861ad0308b920c053a5d5be0123e29)

[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-19/south-african-men-
resc...](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-19/south-african-men-rescued-from-
stricken-jedi-1-yacht-off-wa/8367580)

[http://www.news.com.au/national/sailors-snapped-leg-
forces-1...](http://www.news.com.au/national/sailors-snapped-leg-
forces-1m-rescue/news-story/1f21d0aec9f973d179969178a629d5d1)

These rescues have cost hundreds to millions of dollars each and generally
have been paid for by Australian tax payers as noted in some of the articles.

So yes it is nice that you will be rescued. But these people all put
themselves in a dangerous position for their own entertainment/ego and needed
rescue at great expense to others. The millions that were spent for some of
the rescues needed to be diverted from services/programs that would have
benefited the taxpayers.

The geographic and population distribution differences between countries means
that some countries will end up with a larger bill than others for mounting
such rescues.

For this guy trying to prove something by sailing the smallest boat, if he
can't take out "rescue" insurance, he should not go. Alternatively, he could
also arrange for a support vessel to follow close by in case he needs
assistance.

~~~
nraynaud
we're talking north Atlantic here, not southern oceans, there will be a lot of
people around.

------
X86BSD
I love reading about those sailing across the Pacific or Atlantic in tiny
boats but this guy is going to instantly regret it when he hits a 20 foot
swell.

Say hello to Poseidon for me!

------
wnevets
>He set off from La Gomera in the Canary Islands on 6 April, but returned
after concerns about his boat’s seaworthiness.

Don't you mean attempted?

~~~
grepthisab
He did actually set off.

~~~
wnevets
The original title of the submission said he was breaking the record.

