SAIL

Year	Length	Boat Name	Captain	Description	Pictures/Info
1789	23'		William Bligh	Set adrift near Timor after the famous "Mutiny of the Bounty", Captain Bligh and a crew of 18 loyal men survived a seven-week, 3,600-mile voyage in the cramped boat to reach the island of Timor.  Certainly this ranks as one of the great small boat passages of all time.
1870	20'	City of Ragua	J.C. Buckley & Nicholas Primoraz	This American and Australian (respectively) sailed a converted ship's lifeboat  from Cork, Ireland to Boston, Massachusetts.  The trip lasted 84 days and is considered the first small boat Atlantic crossing East to West, as well as the first two man crossing in either direction.  Noted in several books but best account is in Humphrey Barton's "Atlantic Adventurers."
1875	12'	Centennial Republic	N.H. Bishop	Pittsburgh to Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in a Sneak-box.
1876	20'	Centennial	Alfred Johnson	First person to cross the Atlantic solo West to East. This Grand Banks fisherman sailed his gaff-rigged dory from Gloucester, New Brunswick to Albertcastle, England.  His boat is now on display in the Cape Ann Historical Society museum in Gloucester, MA.
1877	19'7"	New Bedford	Thomas & Joanna Crapo	This couple departed New Bedford, Massachusetts in their ketch rigged dory and arrived in Penzance England 49 days later.  Originally Thomas had planned to go alone, but  his wife insisted on coming.   The voyage is noted in various sources including Thomas Crapo's book, "Strange But True: Life and Adventures of Captain Thomas Crapo and Wife," as well as in Jean Merriens' "Loney Voyagers."
1878	19'	Nautilus	William  & Asa Andrews	These two brothers sailed from Beverly, Massachusetts to Cornwall England in their two masted lateen rigged center boarder.
1880-1881	16'	Little Western	Fredrick Norman & George P. Thomas	These two Brits performed the first double crossing of the Atlantic.  They departed Gloucester, Massachusetts on June 12, 1880 before a crowd of 30,000 and arrived in Cowes, England on July 28, 1880.  They stayed in England for a year and then set out on their return trip on June 15, 1881.  After a difficult journey they arrived back in America after 65 days at sea.  They not only beat the Andrew brother record for the smallest boat to make the crossing but also bettered the Andrews West to East crossing record by three days.
1881	18'	City of Bath	Ivar Olsen & John Trynor	These two sailed in their dory from Newfoundland to Falmouth, England.  This trip is noted in Humprey Barton's, "Atlantic Adventurers."
1882-1883	19'	Pacific	Bernard Gilboy	He almost complete a trip from San Francisco to Australia aboard his 19' double-ended schooner. Unfortunately, his stores ran out after 6500 miles and 164 days. He was picked up at sea only 160 miles from Australia.   The story is told in a log book printed as "A Voyage of Pleasure."
1888	12' 9"	Dark Secret	William Albert Andrews	Failed attempt at crossing the Atlantic, but succeeded later on in 1892.
1891	15'	Sea Serpent	Josiah W. Lawlor	Took part in a race from Boston to England against William Andrews in his 15' boat,  Mermaid. Andrews's boat capsized several times, and he was rescued 600 miles East of Europe.  Despite capsizing several times himself, Lawlor sailed on to reach Lizard Point, England in 45 days.  Lawlor was eventually lost at sea during another race against Andrew. He and his 14'6" boat "Christopher Columbus" were never found.
1892	14'6"	Sapolio	William Albert Andrews	Crossed the Atlantic from New Jersey to Portugal, and his record for the smallest boat crossing stood for 73 years. Andrews tried again in 1898 to cross the Atlantic in the 13' "Phantom Ship" but failed after 27 days at sea.  The boat was then shortened in 1899 to 12'  and renamed the "Doree," but he failed again after 3 weeks.  In the end, Andrews  was lost at sea while attempting another Atlantic crossing with his new bride in 1901 aboard the "Flying Dutchman."
1903	17'	America	Howard Blackburn	He attempted to cross the Atlantic  from West to East in his tiny dory, but he capsized 165 miles East of Cape Sable.  After righting the boat, he returned to port because his stores were ruined. What is so remarkable is that Blackburn was fingerless and that he had already crossed the Atlantic solo in both his 30' sailboat GREAT WESTERN (1899) and in the 25' sloop GREAT REPUBLIC (1901).
1903	20'	Colombia II	Ludwig Eisenbraun	He sailed from Boston via Nova Scotia to Madeira, arriving in 56 days, before continuing on to Gibraltar and Marseilles, France according to the book "Lonely Voyagers."
1904	18'	Vraad	Ole (Abe)Brude	This gaff rigged steel lifeboat was sailed with a crew of three from Norway to Boston in 162 days.  It was reported to be "shaped like an English Walnut."
1914-1916	22'	James Caird	Sir Ernest Shackleton	Shackleton and five other crew members made an epic 800 mile voyage to South Georgia Island after their failed Antarctic expedition.
1926	20'		Teresia Fava	This Italian sailed his home-built 20' cutter from Naples to Newfoundland.  The boat was completely decked over except for a center cockpit. What is remarkable is that he had no legs, having lost them during WWI when he was a steamer commander.
1928	18'	Aga	Paul Muller	This German sailed his lugger from Hamburg to Santa Cruz and then on to the Bahamas, arriving in 67 days.  After visiting Miami his trip ended in South Carolina when his boat caught fire.
1931-1933	19'	Elain	Paul Sproge (aka, Fred Rebell)	He sailed across the Pacific in this small center boarder from Australia to San Pedro, California using 70 year old charts.
1939	13'9"		Harry Young	He sailed in his self-built undecked sloop from New York to the Azores in 39 days. His trip is noted in the "Big Book of Sailing" by Frank Grube and Gerhard Richter
1947-1948	20'	Inga	Friedrich Brusgatis	Sailed from Sweden to Venezuela, accompanied first by a friend and then his wife Yvonne.
1948	16'	Berlin	Paul Muller	(See 1928) Sailing in company with his 18 year old daughter, Muller was headed to South American from his home in Germany.  On the way, though, he died and his daughter landed safely in Africa.
1949	20'	Nova Espero	Stanley Smith Colin Smith	Sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia to England and written about in their book, "Smiths at Sea."  An upturned dinghy served as a cabin.
1951	20'	Nova Espero	Stanley Smith Charles Violet	The second trip was in 1951 from Dartmouth UK to New York (via the Azores and Newfoundland).. For this trip she had had a cabin built and was yawl rigged. The trip took about 18 weeks, and they wrote a book about the trip called “The Wind Calls the Tune”. Charles Violet subsequently sailed the boat through the canals of France and around the Mediterranean (“Nova Espero’s Third Voyage).
1952	19'	Sopranino	Patrick Ellam	Patrick Ellam and Colin Mudie crossed the Atlantic East to West.
1952	15'	L'Heretique	Dr. Alain Bombard	Crossed from the Canary Islands to the West Indies in a rubber raft, living solely off the ocean for 65 days.
1952-1959	20'	Trekka	John Guzzwell	Sailed around the world.  The book, "Trekka Around The World," is a must read.
1955	18'	Hippocampe (Sea Horse)	Jean Lacombe	This French photographer sailed from Toulon, France and arrived in Puerto Rico in 68 days aboard his small Bermudian cutter.  He then continued on to Atlantic City with his final destination being New York City. Later on his sailed in the first single-handed transatlantic race in his 21', "Cape Horn."
1959-1960	20'	Craig	Dayton J. Lalonde	This 35 year old American sailed from Los Angeles to Australia. The voyage was reported in the London Times on May 27, 1960.
1960-1961	20'	Ganga Devi	Capt. John Alexander,	John along with Lt. Adrian Corkill and radio mechanic Hugh Burt sailed 9000 miles from Hong Kong to Falmouth, England according to the July 10, 1961 issue of the London Times.
1962	19'1"	Mermaid	Kenichi Horie	Solo-sailed across the Pacific from Japan to California.
1963-2005	16'	Shoal Waters	A.C. Stock	60,000 miles of microcrusing in the Thames Estuary, and still going strong! Visit his website at http://shoal-waters.moonfruit.com/
1963-	16'	Wanderer	Margaret and Frank Dye	Their books "Ocean Crossing Wayfarer, Dinghy Cruising, The Enjoyment of Wandering Afloat and Sailing to the Edge of Fear" tell of their many adventures aboard their Wayfarer dinghy, W48.  Probably the most famous trip taken in "Wanderer" was when Frank sailed  650 miles from Scotland to Iceland in 1963.
1965	20'	Island Girl	John Letcher, Jr.	Sailed from Honolulu to Sitka, Alaska in 44 days.  See Yachting Magazine- June 1966 page 67,   "Single handed Sailing" by Richard Henderson, and "Self-Steering for Sailing Craft" by John Letcher Jr.
1965	13'6"	Tinkerbelle	Robert Manry	Crossed the Atlantic from Falmouth, Massachusetts to Falmouth, England.  Read the author's book, "Tinkerbelle" or see the boat at The Western Reserve Historical Society (Museum) in Cleveland, Ohio.
1965?	8'	Bathtub		East to West Atlantic crossing.
1965	24'	Dove	Robin Lee Graham	Youngest person the sail around the world at the time, age 16-21. Later on Tania Aebi completed her circumnavigation at the age of 20 in her 26 foot boat Varuna from 1985-1987.
1966	20'	Thumbelina	Kenneth Weis	Sailed 8,000 miles from Vancouver, British Columbia to Auckland, New Zealand in his home made boat.
1966	12'	Nonoalca	Bill Verity	He was an experienced yachtsman, having sailed the Atlantic six times (3 solo) and the Pacific twice (once solo). He set the record for the smallest boat by sailing from Port Everglades, Florida to Fenit, Ireland in 65 days.
1967	16'	Korassa II	Ikau Kashima	This 37 year old Japanese photographer sailed from Long Beach, California to Yokohama, Japan.  The 101 day solo voyage is reported in "The Spray" summer 1967 Volume XI no.2.
1968	6'	April Fool	Hugo Vihlen	Crossed from Casablanca, Africa to Miami, Florida. Read about it in his book, "April Fool."
1968	11'	Little One	William Willis	3 attempted West to East Atlantic crossings. He was lost on his last attempt when he sailed from New York to England at the age of 77.  His boat was found floating empty 400 miles off the coast of Ireland.
1969	20'	Nimbus	George Cadwalader & Duncan Spencer	West to East Atlantic crossing.  See Yachting, May 1970- page 56 and "The Best of Friends" by David Michaelis.
1971-1974	20' 8"	Ahodori II	Hiroshi Aoki	Circumnavigation.
1972	19'	Very Willing Griffin	David Blagden	Finished 10th in 1972 single handed transatlantic race.
1972-1980	18'	Super Shrimp "Shrimpy"	Shane Acton	Stock Caprice class sloop sailed around the world.  Read his book, "Shrimpy."
1973	12'	Sjö Äg "Sea Egg"	John Riding	Sailed across the Atlantic and nearly across the Pacific until he was lost in the Tasman Sea.
1975	13'	Ocean Wave	Bas Jan Ader	Left Falmouth, England in June of 1975 in attempt to cross the Atlantic.  Ten months later his boat was found empty 150 miles off the coast of Ireland.
1977	14'9"	Golondrina	Carlos Aragon	Sailed from Acapulco to the Marquesas in a Finn class sloop!  See "Motor Boating & Sailing Magazine," November 1978.
1978	18'	Chidiock Tichborne	Webb Chiles	From 1978-1984 Webb Chiles sailed around the world in his 18' Drascombe Luggers Chidiock I and Chidiock II. His adventures are well chronicaled in his wonderful books The Openboat and The Ocean Waits along with his article , Chidiock Tichborne II. These stories can now be read online at Webb's excellent website.
1979	18'	Pere Peinard	Claude & Genevieve Desjardins	This couple spent nine years cruising aboard their Bruce Robert designed trailer sailor.  Their adventure first began in Montreal and they sailed as far as Australia.
1979	10'	Yankee Girl	Gerry Spiess	He sailed from Norfolk, Virginia to Falmouth, England in 54 days. West-East Atlantic crossing. His book, "Alone Against The Atlantic" is a must read!
1981	10'	Yankee Girl	Gerry Spiess	California to Australia. Picture is of Gerry's latest 16' boat, Scooter.
1982	14'	Happy	Howard Wayne Smith	After sailing 10,000 miles from Miami, through the Panama canal, and across the Pacific, Wayne was wrecked on a reef off Noumea, New Caledonia in November, 1982.  Undeterred he built the aluminum (9') Happy II there, and he continued on with his circumnavigation until it ended in Australia.
1982	9'9"	Giltspur	Tom McClean	West to East crossing of the Atlantic.  He is also known as the first person to row across the Atlantic solo, beginning in Newfoundland in 1969 and rowed for 70 days aboard his 20' dory to reach Ireland.  He rowed again solo in 1987, making a 54 day passage from Newfoundland to England.
1982-1984	9' 1"	Wind's Will	Bill Dunlop	Bill crossed the Atlantic (West to East) in his 9'  boat  in the spring/summer of 1982.  He was later lost in June 1984 during his around the world attempt on his way to Australia from Aitutaki, Cook Island.
1983	8'11"	God's Tear	Wayne Dickinson	American, Wayne Dickinson crossed the Atlantic from Massachusetts to Ireland in 1983. Unfortunately, his beautiful boat was smashed to pieces when he was driven ashore at Arranmore Island in a force 10 gale after 142 days.  Luckily, an Irish lighthouse keeper, Charlie Boyle,  rescued him from probable death. More information can be found here.
1983	7'11"	Giltspur	Tom McClean	Tom McClean of England crossed the Atlantic in 1983 from St. John's, Newfoundland to Oporto, Portugal in his cut down Giltspur from the year before.  He is also known as the first person to row across the Atlantic solo.  He began in Newfoundland in 1969 and rowed for 70 days aboard his 20' dory to reach Ireland.
1983	5'8"	Toniky Nou	Eric Peters	East to West Atlantic crossing
1983	6'10"	Big C	Tom McNally	West to East Atlantic crossing.
1984-1987	12'	Acrohc Australis	Serge Testa	Sailed his boat  all the way around the world from 1984-1987.  His fantastic voyage can be relived in the book, "500 Days."
1988	8'	G'Day 88	Ashley Coulston	Australia to New Zealand
1989	15'	Bris	Sven Lundin	East toWest Atlantic crossing. with wife Olga.
1989	9'6"	Mermaid	Keniche Horie	Pacific crossing from San Francisco to Nishinomiya, Japan.
1990-1993	12'	Squeak	Stephen Ladd	6,500 mile trip exploring rivers in the U.S. and South America,  returning home through the Caribbean.  Read about it in, "Three Years in a 12-foot Boat."
1991	19'	NCS Challenger	Anthony Steward	First open boat circumnavigation.
1993	5' 4 1/2"	Vera Hugh	Tom McNally	Sailed from Sagres, Portugal to Puerto Rico in 134 days, finishing his trip in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
1993	5'4"	Father's Day	Hugo Vihlen	West to East Atlantic crossing from New Foundland to England in 1993.The epic voyage is well told in the book, "The Stormy Voyage of Father's Day."
1998	3'11"	Vera Hugh II	Tom McNally	Incomplete East to West Atlantic crossing in the smallest boat yet! Vera Hugh II is in Palmas, Gran Canaria, having sailed  from Tangiers.  Tom hoped to leave sometime in the summer of 2002, but as of yet he has not resumed his trip.
2002	19' 6"		Alessandro di Benedetto	First solo transatlantic crossing in a sport catamaran

OAR/PADDLE

1896	18'	Fox	George Harbo & Frank Samuelsen	First persons to row across the Atlantic Ocean. They left from New York City on June 6, 1896 and arrived in the Scilly Islands 55 days later.  Their epic voyage is well told in the book by David W. Shaw, "Daring The Sea."
1928	21'6"	Deutscher Sport	Franz Romer	West to East crossing of the Atlantic in specially made folding kayak.
1956	17'1"	Liberia III	Hannes Lindermann	Crossed from Las Palmas, Canary Islands to St. Martin in 76 days aboard a stock Klepper Folding kayak.
1966		Puffin	David Johnstone & John Hoare	Were lost at sea attempting to cross the Atlantic from West to East.  They left a month earlier before Chay Blyth.
1966	20'	English Rose III	Chay Blyth & John Ridgeway	Crossed the Atlantic from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Ireland in 92 days.
1969		Britannia	John Fairfax	First to row across the Atlantic solo, Canary Islands to Florida  in 180 days.
1969		Super Silver	Tom McLean	Rowed solo from Newfoundland to Ireland in 71 days.
1971		Britannia II	John Fairfax & Sylvia Cook	Rowed from San Francisco to Australia in 361 days.
1977-2002	17'10"	Isadora	Paul Caffyn	One of the greats in long distance kayaking.  He has circumnavigated New Zealand (North and South Islands), Fiordland, Australia, Japan and Great Britain.  You can read about his New Zealand adventures in the books, "Cresting the Restless Waves" and the "Dark Side of the Wave".  His circumnavigation of Australia can be enjoyed in his recent book, "The Dreamtime Voyage," which we just got a copy of  (8/02).
1980		Captaine Cook	Gerard D'Aboville	Rowed across the Atlantic (West to East) in 72 days.
1982-1983			Peter Byrd	Rowed from California to Australia in 294 days.
1984-1986	25'5"	Excalibur Pacific	Curtis and Kathleen Saville	Rowed 10,000 miles from Callao, Peru to Australia in 193 days.
1987	20'		Ed Gillet	Paddled from California to Maui, Hawaii in 63 days aboard his double kayak.
1991	26'	Sector	Gerard D'Aboville	Rowed from Japan to Washington State in 134 days. We've read his book, "Alone," and it is quite good.
1997		Kiwi Challenge	Rob Hamill & Phil Stubbs	These New Zealanders completed the fastest ever double handed East to West Atlantic crossing (Canary Islands to West Indies in 41 days) during the Atlantic Rowing Race .
2001	23'		Jim Shekhdar	Rowed solo from  Ilo, Peru to Queensland’s North Stradbroke Island  in 275 days.

(Please note: for a complete list of  long distance rowers visit OCEAN ROWING SOCIETY)

© David G. Bolduc 1999-2005