Saturday, August 13, 2011

 Smallest Power Boat to Cross The Atlantic: Florida brothers set world record (Video)

TAMPA, FL, USA -- Two brothers, Ralph Brown, 50, of Spring Hill, and Robert Brown, 51, of Merritt Island, managed to cross the Atlantic in a in a Suzuki powered 21' Flats Boat, that Ralph's company Dream Boats, Inc designed and built, from Tampa, Florida to the Limehouse Marina in downtown London - setting the new world record for the Smallest Power Boat to Cross The Atlantic.

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 The Guinness world record for the The longest non-stop ocean voyage in a flats boat was 1,245.63 km (774 miles) and was set by Ralph and Robert Brown (USA) who travelled from St. Georges, Bermuda to New York Harbor, USA.

Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the fastest transatlantic crossing made completely under solar power: 26 days 19 hr 10 min by MS TÛRANOR PlanetSolar (Switzerland) and its crew of six from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain to Marigot, Saint Martin .

  The Brown brothers crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a 21'1'' powerboat, without a cabin or a keeel.

  The previous world record was a 21'4'' powerboat that had both a cabin and a keel. There were actually two seperate boats 21'4" that made the voyage, both were primarly designed for that voyage.
  Flrida brothers did it in a stock FLATS BOAt, no cabin, no keel drafting a lot less than a foot.

  "There were times we were afraid for our lives, but we never thought for once we wouldn't make it," Ralph Brown said.

  They survived being hit by an iceberg and massive waves from the remnants of hurricanes.

  They've seen glaciers, seals and even whales. They even mailed President Barack Obama a post card from Greenland.
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  Ralph and Robert started their adventure from Tampa, Florida, and continued up the US east coast, to Canada, Greenland, Iceland and Scotland.

  They undertook the voyage to honor Robert's former Marine comrades who died in 1980 in a botched mission called Operation Eagle Claw, in which several branches of the military attempted to liberate the American Embassy in Iran after terrorists took the ambassador and his staff hostage.

  Their open fishing boat separates itself from other smaller boats that have made the crossing is that it does not have a cabin, a keel, a sail, or an escort and it had to carry its own fuel.
  This boat literally runs in less than an incredible four inches of water, including the motor.
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  While experts said it was impossible to survive the 7000 plus miles of open ocean, the Brown brothers stepped off their tiny open fishing boat at 6:40 pm, London Time, Friday, September 4, 2009 at the Limehouse Marina in downtown London.

  The brother's remained completely exposed to the elements for the entire voyage and did not have a keel to right the boat if it were to flip.

  Ralph and Bob Brown survived being run over by an iceberg in Greenland, almost running out of fuel hundreds of miles from shore, refusing to be rescued three separate times, surviving massive waves from the remnants of two hurricanes, being slammed into rocks by gale force winds, running out of money and many other amazing events.

  Although the boat retained seaworthiness, some of the attached equipment has literally fallen apart from the impact of an estimated 140,000 slams during the crossing.

 Their final destination, some 8312 miles from Sarasota FL., was the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, near Frankfurt, Germany.

   The world record attempt was sponsored by Interstate Battery .

  The "I Am Second" voyage team attended a reception with the wounded heroes that have been evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan.

 This is not the first time Ralph and Robert Brown have set a World Record. In 2007, their 1400 mile adventure started from North Carolina to Bermuda and back to NYC. They were awarded the " Longest Non Stop Ocean Voyage in a Flats Boat "