Man rescued trying to sail to US in £300 dinghy

[Simpo Two]

It beggars belief:

'The man was not wearing a life jacket, his boat had no lights and his only navigational aid was a street map of Southampton'

http://news.sky.com/story/1320251/man-rescued-tryi...

[secreto]

I'd of left him to it...one less idiot on the planet.

[Hard-Drive]

Have, dear boy, have.

[anonymous-user]

Reads a lot like the bloke has mental health issues.

[Hub]

He didn't get very far! Reminds me of this one too:

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/archive/2013/07/1...American_sailor__very_luckyto_be_alive/

[markmullen]

Crossflow Kid said:

Reads a lot like the bloke has mental health issues.

Or balls of steel.

Either way valiant effort, but stupid nonetheless.

[madbadger]

Simpo Two said:

It beggars belief:

'The man was not wearing a life jacket, his boat had no lights and his only navigational aid was a street map of Southampton'

http://news.sky.com/story/1320251/man-rescued-tryi...

Navigating out of Southampton is the tricky bit. Once you are on the sea you just keep going West. America is big enough.

[Simpo Two]

It's a sound theory but...

[jimbop1]

madbadger said:

Navigating out of Southampton is the tricky bit. Once you are on the sea you just keep going West. America is big enough.

Not as tricky when armed with a street map of the place.

[markmullen]

I had to laugh at one report which said after 45 minutes of pleading with him the RNLI crew grabbed him and put him on their boat

[scubadude]

madbadger said:

Navigating out of Southampton is the tricky bit.

Where it not for the fact he left from Christchurch...

As it happens the American east cost is very miss-able from the UK, its only a few degrees wide from 3000miles away.

[Fotic]

markmullen said:

I had to laugh at one report which said after 45 minutes of pleading with him the RNLI crew grabbed him and put him on their boat

The 2 minute video doesn't support that.

[WCZ]

what's the cheapest boat with a 4,000 mile range that could handle the journey?

[Gargamel]

WCZ said:

what's the cheapest boat with a 4,000 mile range that could handle the journey?

Quite a few people have rowed across, so it can't be that difficult

[Fishtigua]

A Frenchman swam across using a float. I met a Japanese fellow who did it in a little 21' powerboat with a Tohatsu 2.5hp outboard.

http://www.tohatsu.com/news/seiko.html

[rpguk]

Yup certainty some mental health issues. Interesting that he apparently had a US visa though.

On another note, I thought that was a pretty impressive dinghy for £300.

[Fotic]

Fishtigua said:

A Frenchman swam across using a float. I met a Japanese fellow who did it in a little 21' powerboat with a Tohatsu 2.5hp outboard.

http://www.tohatsu.com/news/seiko.html

That's amazing!

An ambition of mine is to sail the Atlantic but after reading that, it just sounds easy.

I'd love to know how much/little fuel he used. Any idea?

[rpguk]

Fishtigua said:

A Frenchman swam across using a float. I met a Japanese fellow who did it in a little 21' powerboat with a Tohatsu 2.5hp outboard.

http://www.tohatsu.com/news/seiko.html

Fantastic! I love how they refer to his boat as a full-size replica of a model he made

[Fishtigua]

I sat next to him at the yacht club. He STANK of fuel, not healthy.

[anonymous-user]

Ironic given i am currently reading Konx-Johnson's "world of my own", he makes it sound quite easy...