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Joshua Slocum (February 20, 1844[1] – on or shortly after November 14, 1909) was the first person to sail single-handedly around the world. He was a Nova Scotian-born ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Slocum
And Sir Robin Knox-Johnston[1] was the first person to sail single-handedly around the world _non-stop_. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Knox-Johnston
A few years ago I was part of a national-level rescue chain, the chain that starts with a phonecall and snakes it way up through different first responders. The group I worked with were at pretty much the far end of the chain. I am all for people doing great things, but for every great-thing-doing long distance sailor there are a hundred rich idiots. 50ish, got rich, bought a boat and is out on the open ocean ... and…
Something I've read on HN once, and that nailed it for me: in the middle of the Pacific you are further away from any possible rescue than if you were on the ISS.
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> And how do you get people onboard? A drone with a robotic arm? Nets. Nets are how you get people on board in basically all emergency scenarios. Not that drone rescue ships seem like a particularly good idea, mind you.
No, they use harnesses or baskets. And there’s a rescue swimmer to make it less likely that you die. https://youtu.be/1B1dnSf6rPk is one example but there are plenty videos of these guys (heroes).
Joshua Slocum (February 20, 1844[1] – on or shortly after November 14, 1909) was the first person to sail single-handedly around the world. He was a Nova Scotian-born ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Slocum
And Sir Robin Knox-Johnston[1] was the first person to sail single-handedly around the world _non-stop_. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Knox-Johnston
Entered the Southern Ocean at roughly a third of the way around, took damage and lost all his water supplies, and had to do the rest of the race by rationing his beer cans. 1960s battery and valve radio technology failed somewhere in the Indian Ocean and he could receive but not transmit, and had to send a status update by throwing a message in a bottle to a passing ship.
There's a related link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Crowhurst who entered the Golden Globe race without the proper equipment, backed himself into a corner, planned to cheat to save his home, and didn't survive it.
There is something wonderfully old-internet about finding a complete 3,5year solo circumnavigation memoir sitting on a plain HTML site
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And how fast is this drone ship? I bet slower than the helicopter. And how do you get people onboard? A drone with a robotic arm? Will it be like the claw game, but with wounded people being clawed up?
Even the longest ranged helicopters are WELL short of "middle of the ocean" range. The longest top out around 600 miles, and that's straight line, not out and back, and certainly not with any loiter time in the middle.
USS Houston was carrying President Roosevelt from Panama to Hawaii on a secret route, and the airship commander launched an unauthorised scouting mission to search for his ship, found it, and dropped a bundle of current newspapers and magazines for him.
I read this many years ago, it is fantastic. The tale is very matter-of-fact, but interspersed with hard-hitting extremely personal bits. It's a great read. The boat itself is an odd duck, a Pacific Seacraft double-ender, which was only built for a few years. Somewhat similar to the very popular Westsail 32. Many cruising sailors recommend the smallest boat that will do for you. A larger boat is more comfortable, sur…
Maybe HN will like this, 100 Rabbits. https://100r.co/site/home.html It is a mix of sailing, low tech, art.
In my spare time I message people of means to fund a 100ft carbon maxi sailing campaign to break ocean records at the major offshore events around the globe.(www.msailing.org) I call it my moonshot, something I spend a few hours on a month, and you'd be amazed how many people actually politely decline. I wish more people knew the joy and the rawness of the ocean.
I'll bite. How does Gitana 18 and the general continued technological progress in the Ultim class fall short? If you had something to contribute, couldn't you just get involved in one of these projects?
Some people need to do it themselves.