A UK father has been rescued in his second attempt to cross the Atlantic in the smallest boat.
Andrew Bedwell set off from Newfoundland in Canada last Thursday (4 June) in his home-built vessel, the Big C V2, which is only 1.2 metres long, according to the Lancashire Post.
But three days and 90 miles into his latest voyage, Bedwell was forced to make a mayday call after what he described as a “fluke accident … which would have meant a risk to my life”.
In the days leading up to the challenge, the 52-year-old said he’d learned his lesson from his previous failed attempt three years ago when his “wheelie bin” vessel sank before it even left the harbour, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.
His latest micro-boat was slightly longer, with a stronger aluminium construction, which the six-foot-two sailing enthusiast hoped would take him across 1,900 miles of ocean in the ‘Big C Atlantic Challenge’ over the next three months.
While Bedwell’s primary goal is to raise funds for Cancer Research UK, he also had ambitions to break the record held by Hugo Vihlen, who crossed the Atlantic in 105 days in a 1.6m boat in the 1990s.
But sadly the Big C V2 had to be abandoned at sea when he was rescued by the Canadian coastguard on Saturday (6 June).
Commenting on social media, Bedwell said: “I have spent the last four years of my life working towards this challenge. I’m conscious of how much time I have given to it, how much money my family has invested in it, how much time and money my sponsors have invested in it — this all takes a toll financially, mentally and physically on everybody involved, not just me!
“I would truly love to break this record, but there comes a time when you have to ask yourself at what cost. Not just to myself but to everybody else who's involved.
“I was undertaking this challenge for three reasons: to push myself, to inspire others and to raise as much money for charity as possible. Those three reasons are still at the forefront of my mind and I will continue to do things that contribute to those.”
