72-year old Swede crosses the Atlantic alone.

Solo sailer Sven Yrvind fears neither nature nor loneliness as he takes off for Florida and the U.S.  

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  Sven Yrvind is at age 72, crossing the Atlantic in a very small sailboat without keel. Photo from www.yrvind.com

• At five o’clock am last Monday, he left Västervik on his homemade 5-meter short (16”) sailboat Yrvind.com in order to sail to Florida. Throughout Europe, Yrvind will trail his boat behind his car. The planned route is through Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France, England, Wales, and finally Ireland. The destination her is Kinsale, Ireland, where the boat will be launched. A friend will drive the car and trailer back to Sweden.

• “It’s too tricky otherwise,” Yrvind says. “But I am not afraid. I am more afraid of people on land.”

• It’s a unique voyage in a number of ways. The boat, which Yrvind has made himself, has no keel, is only 4.8 meters (15.7 feet) long and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) wide – thus not much bigger than a regular bathtub. “That’s part of the project,” says Yrvind. “To, like Heyerdahl with Kon-Tiki, do something new and show that it is possible to cross the Atlantic with a boat without keel. It will take a few months.” For more information about Sven Yrvind and to follow his route: www.yrvind.com