Daredevil dad’s daring second try to sail across Atlantic in tiny boat

By Charlie Fenton and Aimee Seddon

A daredevil dad is set to make his second attempt at sailing across the Atlantic Ocean in the smallest ever boat — three years after his previous vessel "sunk."

Andrew Bedwell, 52, has said he is "confident" that his new yacht, measuring around 1.2 meters (3.9 feet), will complete the perilous 1,900-mile solo crossing.

The mariner's latest attempt at a voyage will be his second in three years, with his previous vessel — named "Big C" made from fiberglass — being sidelined after it "sank" in 2023 on the first day.

Andrew was then tasked with creating a new boat which he named "Big C V2," which is fractionally longer than the last yacht and made from tougher aluminum and has a top speed of 3.7 knots (4.2 mph).

The keen sailor from Scarisbrick, Lancashire, planned to take on the challenge in May last year but postponed it until now after wanting to complete more sea trials.

Now he has shipped the tiny boat to the starting point in Newfoundland, Canada, and says he is "excited" to attempt his "lifelong dream" to break the world record for the shortest vessel to cross the Atlantic.

The record has been unbroken for the past three decades.

He said: "I'm not nervous, just excited really — I just want to get it done now.

"The hard bit was building the boat and now it's this stagnant bit where I've had this boat — and the one before it — in my life for six years and now it's gone.

"It is currently on its way and there's literally nothing I can do now boat wise.

"There's obviously always apprehension because the North Atlantic is mighty, and it's a challenging sea to be in.

"I've been in some pretty horrendous conditions on there but this boat is designed for them, so it's just going to be a different experience.

"It's gonna be like a roller coaster for three months in the bad conditions."

Andrew is 6 foot 2 and with the boat just under four feet long it means he has to spend most of the journey crouched into a slightly extended fetal position during good conditions.

And during the rough waters, he has revealed he will be harnessed into a seated position inside what he has described as an "upgraded wheely bin."

The dad-of-one has told he started watersports aged just six months, and he has now been a sailor for around two decades.

His previous challenges included solo sails around Britain, up to Iceland, and even the Arctic Ocean.

Andrew came up with his idea after reading a book by current record holder Hugo Vihlen, who made the dangerous crossing in a 1.6m (5ft 4inch) boat 30 years ago.

The marine business owner has attempted the challenge before — three years ago — but he had to turn around on the first day due to a problem.

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Andrew explained: "Unfortunately, it was literally two days after my father passed away, and hands up, I'd basically sawed a bolt down too short, so we had to substitute one when we got out to Canada.

"The about eight hours after I set off, I noticed there was a tiny leak coming in the bottom of the boat.

"In all honesty, I could have carried on but one of my deals with my wife and daughter is that if everything's not 100 per cent, you turn back, you sort it and then go again.

"So I did that but as I took it back into the harbor, but the next day I found it had sank.

"We then craned it out, but during the process the strops broke and it dropped onto a concrete floor breaking its body.

"It was a case of 'right, I need to start again' so that's what I've done because a big part of the whole challenge is inspiring other people to do more in life.

"So it was a case of rebuild, resaw, redo, and this is where we are now, three years later."

Andrew sets off for Canada on May 15, and he hopes to be launched by the 20th, meaning the earliest he will land in the U.K. will be August.

Although the record attempt involves the length of the vessel, Andrew also wants to beat the previous record holder Vihlen's time took of 105 days.

He said: "We only have around 98 days' worth of food onboard, so I don't want to be getting close to that time frame at all."

The vessel being shorter will slow it down but it has been optimized to make it sail as fast as possible.

As well as the hydrodynamics, Andrew's boat is cleverly designed to fit him "like a glove" as he puts it, while even his snacks are getting put to ingenious use.

Beef jerky, raisins and fat are all blended together to create 1,900 calories bars, which are then vacuum packed, warmed to soften and molded into the hull which will both strengthen the vessel and more importantly insulate Andrew from the freezing waters off Canada.

With the freezing temperatures, choppy conditions, and even the risk of icebergs, surprisingly, Andrew isn't "nervous" at all.

Andrew instead admitted the hardest thing will be to be away from his wife and daughter who are his "rocks," but he hopes to have enough power on the boat to contact them using a satellite phone.

The seaman says his aims for the challenge are to raise money for Cancer Research UK and inspire people to take on their dreams.

He said: "One of the guys who previously held the record, Tom McNally, the crazy Liverpudlian sailor, as everyone knew him, he unfortunately died of cancer.

"Then my parents both died of cancer as well and one of my sponsors has had cancer issues.

"There's so many people that I know that have had cancer.

"Previous to this, I've been raising money for the lifeboats but after buying an actual lifeboat and giving them, I think it was about three quarters of a million in all, I've decided that cancer, as you get older, becomes more important in people's minds."

"But the main thing is I really want to inspire people to get out there and fulfill their dreams."