Andrew Bedwell rescued off Newfoundland during Atlantic crossing attempt

Andrew Bedwell’s ultra-mini Atlantic challenge ran into the hard edge of the North Atlantic off Newfoundland, where the Canadian Coast Guard lifted him off Big C V2 after a technical issue and brought him to Old Perlican. The rescue came after the boat was reported in trouble about 75 nautical miles east of the Bay de Verde Peninsula, a reminder that in a 1.2-metre sailing vessel, even a small failure can end the passage fast.

The Coast Guard was alerted around 9:30 a.m. local time on Friday, June 5, that the sailor aboard the Big C Atlantic Challenge needed assistance. By about 2:15 p.m., the Sacred Bay had brought Bedwell safely back to land. The boat was abandoned after the recovery, which is exactly the sort of outcome that separates a homebuilt record attempt from a conventional offshore passage: there is no spare room, no margin, and no easy way to nurse a tiny hull through trouble once conditions turn.

Big C V2 was built like a serious piece of micromechanical offshore gear, not a toy. The aluminium hull carried 5mm plating at the keel and hull, 3mm topsides, and an encapsulated 115kg lead keel secured by 25mm diameter keel bolts that could be adjusted from inside the boat. It also carried a 10mm polycarbonate domed hatch, an 8mm washboard, directional dorade vents, and a custom snorkel system so Bedwell could breathe while the boat stayed sealed in bad weather. Power came from 50W solar panels backed by AGM and lithium batteries, while a central furling system handled twin Dacron sails around an aluminium A-frame. During sea trials, the little boat reportedly reached 3.7 knots.

The point of the project was always bigger than novelty. Guinness World Records tracks the “smallest wind-powered boat to cross the Atlantic,” and the previous benchmark was Hugo Vihlen’s Father’s Day, a 1.62-metre boat that sailed from Newfoundland to Falmouth, Cornwall, in 106 days. Bedwell’s target was to beat that mark in a craft measuring about 100cm, a quest that pushed the category into territory where design ingenuity meets unforgiving reality.

This was Bedwell’s second try. His earlier 2023 effort ended in disaster when water ingress derailed the voyage and the boat was then damaged again when a crane strop broke and it was dropped onto concrete during recovery. Guinness later said Big C V2 was the redesigned replacement. That is the lesson from this rescue: innovation can shrink a boat, but it cannot shrink the sea.