Nearly Four Days In A Laser

Robert Suhay (USA) completed his attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for record for longest distance sailed unassisted in a dinghy. After launching his Laser from the Sail Carteret Sailing Club dock in Morehead City, NC on June 30 at 06:00, Suhay, age 52, arrived in Annapolis, MD on July 4 at 00:08 at the dock of Severn Sailing Association. During the route he was not allowed to make landfall or receive any aide.

“He only took one sleep break on Thursday night (July 2) and drifted on to a sedge and briefly grounded when the tide went out,” reports his wife, Lisa Suhay. “However, he did not at any time make landfall or set foot on land. Satellite imagery of that event makes it look as if he’s on an island but when you play the GPS Track you can see the boat drifting in circles for a few hours as he slept. Boats up on the hard don’t drift in circles. But since we expect that to be something we will have to document with the help of Fish and Wildlife, we are currently placing the record breaking at the point just before he went to sleep at the sledge. That was 295.3 nm.”

According to the GPS Yellow Brick tracker final report, Suhay sailed a total distance of 346.1 nm. The official record distance will be determined by Guinness World Record. Suhay holds the current Guinness World Record of 283.5 nm for the longest singlehanded distance sailed in a dinghy by a male. Updates – Tracker