With this little boat (4 meters) in 1970 they crossed the Atlantic

The Atlantic Ocean for sailors and those who love boats is a powerful lure, and there is no shortage of stories of “original” methods of accomplishing the feat. From


volunteer castaway, Alain Bombard


to


modern “Diogenes”


Who made it inside a barrel. The underlying discourse is often similar. What starts in the west, in the Atlantic, sooner or later arrives somewhere in the east. In 1970 it was two young Finnish men, Seppu Muraja and Arto Kulmala, who became inflamed by this crazy idea. Giving originality to their story was the choice of boat: a small open (4 meters by 1.70 meters), a Marine Mustang called Psycotppatti, with a 36-horsepower Archimedes Penta 360 outboard. And, against any prediction we could make today, they did it.

The ocean with a four-meter boat

You may be interested in this article:

Sergio Davì è (ancora) da record: ha fatto Palermo-Los Angeles in gommone!

The article continues below…

Crossing the Atlantic on a 4-meter speedboat

There was no room for fuel, so the initial idea was to drag it into floating tanks, but in practice it was not feasible. A 200-liter barrel was then placed in a waterproofed hold in the middle of the boat. As an auxiliary thrust, the Marino was also fitted with a mast with a sail, which later became the main propulsion since fuel would never be enough by sailing on motor alone.

The departure was from a city that, especially to car lovers, immediately inspires a sense of adventure: Dakar in Senegal. The arrival, however, was in Guyana, where the little red boat arrived pushed by the trade wind. In total it took 47 days, about 1128 hours of total attention to the hull, in turn. Imagine, though, what it is like to helm for days and days and days, every minute. For sleeping, in turn, there was a space made under the deck aft of the cockpit, while food supply was largely related to fishing.

Mustang Marino, they still build it

Yesterday we were talking about the rebirth of the boat by


Hemingway, the Pilar,


which is now produced under the name Wheeler 38.

Questa è Pilar, la leggendaria barca da pesca di Hemingway

Returning to this story,


Marino


, the Finnish shipyard that has been producing pleasure boats for more than 60 years, in 2019 reintroduced the company’s Mustang exactly as it was 50 years ago. With the added option of choosing deck colors from a wide palette of pastel shades and matching the grille of the Tohatsu outboard, which can be chosen from 15 up to 50 horsepower. Ideal as a first boat, given the fairly low cost of hull and engine, but with the assurance that at the helm, you will potentially have no limits.

NAVIGATE INFORMED!

To stay up-to-date on all the boating news, selected by our editorial staff, sign up for the Motor Boats newsletter! Just click the link below, accept the Privacy Policy, and click the “Subscribe Me” button. You will then receive the best powerboat news on your email, twice a week! It’s free and you can unsubscribe at any time, no obligation! CLICK HERE.