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.

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.

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

Yeah, I'd had a few whiskeys when I read the article and I missed that. My mistake. Still a rough trip, and I hope he makes it. That takes some serious balls.

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

"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.

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

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

But, a multiday storm in that pan, will be anything but fun.

With so much weight on the keel, the boat is very unlikely to tip over. And if it does, it will right itself. It's most likely a very rough roller coaster ride, but unless you loose the keel or water gets into the boat you'll come out upright. Since the space inside is so limited, the usual danger of bruising yourself when the boat tips is limited. Not much space for objects to fly either.

This video shows how hard it is to capsize a properly ballasted sailboat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mYTOnOs3Y&t=3m45s

Sweet video. Now I want one...

When there is nothing you can do then you do nothing. There is no requirement to be outside.

Still doesn't sound like fun.

People who do extremely uncomfortable things to break records are not in it to have "fun."

Is he doing it single handed? I'd love to do that one day.

I did a trans-Atlantic about 10 years ago (Liverpool, england to Salvador, Brazil) as part of the clipper challenge race. We had a few force 8 and above experiences between the training and the actual trip. The boats were a bit bigger (68 foot, from memory) but either way it's amazing how resilient they are.

Once we went right over surfing down a wave (had a broach). At one point the boat was standing upright on the bow and was over so far that the mast was almost level with water so I could walk up it. The team spent a lot of time stitching those sails together again :-)

>"Once we went right over surfing down a wave (had a broach). At one point the boat was standing upright on the bow and was over so far that the mast was almost level with water so I could walk up it."

Wow, did you flip over end over end then? How did you become oriented with the direction of the wave? Did the boat just right itself?

We were flying a kite at the time and the line had become jammed on the winch. As a result, we couldn't spill any wind and the pressure of the wind on the 3 sails was so strong that the boat was being dragged along (had been doing about 20 knots before it happened).

The skipper decided to dump the line that was holding the spinnaker pole back, which turned out to be a terrible idea. Obviously that line has all the force on it, so the spinnaker pole shot forward and snapped in half on the forestay (thank God it didn't take the rigging out). It didn't really ease the pressure and the kite was still flying.

Luckily (or not) the kite ripped under the force. It was still pulling us along but because enough pressure had come off everything by this stage we were able to get the main down.

We ended up having to drop the kite in the sea and then spent a couple of hours getting it back on board.

It was a pretty exciting afternoon :-)

I was thinking I wouldn't even want to cross in a 42 foot yacht.

I'm in the Maritimes (south east Canada) and I know it can be incredibly rough here 10m (33 foot) waves are normal off Newfoundland. It's so bad an entire 25,000 ton oil rig sank in a storm a few decades ago.

One rogue wave could smash that little 42 inch yacht to bits the size of confetti.

I wish the Tiny Yacht guy luck but it's going to be rough!

>"I'm in the Maritimes (south east Canada) and I know it can be incredibly rough here 10m (33 foot) waves are normal off Newfoundland."

Is this the Bay of Fundy?

No, that's a long way from Fundy. 10+ meter swell is common on both exposed coasts in the open ocean. Fundy is not exposed that way but has had high tides due to narrowing.

Sounds utterly miserable! I spent a few months on a ship that tended toward pitching more than rolling -- that motion was miserable for my body. This guys journey sounds like it will be a real sufferfest ...

people so under estimate how difficult ocean sailing can be; not saying your father is in this category because its obvious he isn't if he is willing to try that trip.

I remember sailing out of Hilton Head area (SE Georgia US) on a thirty footer and damn can waves just make the horizon vanish let alone that feeling you get when you don't see land. Throw in sail is not something I would want to manage by myself.