THE ULTIMATE BLUEWATER CHALLENGE

Despite all the technology we have available to us today, crossing the Atlantic is still a major challenge for the bluewater sailor. You need to be self-sufficient for 2,000 miles, even if you are island hopping, a reality that means carrying a lot of fuel, traveling at an economical speed, and being outside the range of reliable weather forecasts.

Imagine what it must have been like more than 100 years ago when the first motorboat set out to cross the Atlantic. The first steamship crossed the Atlantic in 1819, and it took another 80 years before a motorboat made an attempt.

In 1902, William Newman decided that an Atlantic crossing would be a good way to promote his marine to the gills with more than 700 gallons of kerosene to fuel the 10-hp, single-cylinder motor. Together with his 16-year-old son, he set out from New York.