A devastated sailor who was about to embark on a record-breaking journey across the Atlantic when his boat was smashed to pieces has vowed to come back stronger.
Andrew Bedwell (UK) was just about to set off on a 1,900 mile (3,057 km) solo journey in a tiny 1.19 m (3 ft 10 in) boat named Big C to break the record for smallest boat to cross the Atlantic when disaster struck.
The 49-year-old dad from Lancashire was set to complete the three-month journey to raise money for cancer charities.
But sadly, his dreams were shattered when the boat was dropped on to concrete and smashed to pieces.
Andrew broke down in tears as he explained what had happened in a video on his social media, but now, is vowing to come back stronger than ever with a new and improved - but equally tiny - boat.
The unfortunate destruction of Big C came at a devastating time for Andrew, who had just lost his dad Tony to cancer at the age of 88.
Andrew, who also lost his mum Maureen to the disease in 2018 when she was 79, explained to us how a modification to the boat led him down this unfortunate path.
He said: “It was horrendous, absolutely horrendous.
“There was a keel bolt that goes down into the boat and is bolted up.
“From my last sea trials, when I came back, I said straight away ‘I need to cut that bolt down shorter’ because it was just too long. So, I cut it down shorter, put it to one side and left it.
“Then three weeks before I set off my dad was really poorly and I shot off down south to look after him for his last two weeks.
“I got home two days before I had to leave and go out to Canada and in my rushed state and not thinking, I took an extra length off the bolt, so I’d now taken two lots off.”
Andrew realized what he had done when he got out to Canada and prepared to set sail.
He was able to get his hands on another bolt, but unfortunately it was the wrong type.
Andrew soldiered on as best he could, but as soon as the boat was lowered, it began taking in water.
The water was pumped out of the boat, and it was lifted out so it could be repaired.
Andrew explained: “It was a fishing dock rather than a marina where we have the normal cranes.
“So, we craned her out but as we did the rope snapped and she dropped down on to the concrete.
“There was significant damage on the outside of the boat but also on the inside there were cracks.
“If I was sailing close to land it would have been okay but it wasn’t safe.
“We’ve had to cut the boat up and destroy it.”
Andrew, who is married to Tracy, managed to recover many of the boat’s parts and electronic equipment and get it back home, where he’s working on a new and improved design.
He had taken over the boat from its original designer, Tom McNally, who also sadly died of cancer, and vowed to finish what he started.
And despite this hiccup, he is determined to finish what he and Tom started, on board Big C 2.0.
With the backing of sponsors and some high-profile UK residents who’ve got in touch after learning what happened, Andrew, who makes sails for boats for a living, is already busy building his new boat.
“It’s going to be an updated design and it will make it stronger,” Andrew said.
“It still wouldn’t survive a drop on to concrete but that’s a very unusual scenario.
“I’ll come back and I’ll do it, we need this record to come back to the UK.”
When Andrew does embark on his challenge - he thinks two years from now - he’ll be completely on his own for three months, during which he isn’t permitted to exit his vessel at any point.
He’ll have special food made on board, eating two 400 g portions a day to get all the protein he needs, as well as nutrition-packed drinks to keep him going.
The weight of the boat is a delicate balance.
Andrew will be carrying 45 kilos of food, 18 kilos of which is excess weight, and after that he’ll have to collect sea water to balance the boat out again.
There’s a leeway of around 15 kilos to factor in any weight that Andrew loses during the journey.
The current record was set way back in 1993 by Hugo Vihlen (USA) in his boat Father’s Day.
His small, wind-powered boat was 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in) and completed the journey between 14 June and 27 September.
We’re wishing Andrew the best of luck for getting his little boat sea-worthy so he can finally complete his challenge.
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