ITALY (eTN) – Matteo Miceli was rescued in the Atlantic Ocean after being thrown from his Eco 40 boat. He was about 600 nautical miles from Brazil when the incident occurred, and was left to drift on the emergency raft in the Atlantic Ocean.
Rescue operations were coordinated by the National Center Relief Coast Guard of Rome. After receiving the distress call and locating the raft, the Brazilian maritime competent authorities flagged the merchant Aranon that was in the Marshall Islands to divert its route to provide relief to the stranded navigator.
Upon arrival of the merchant Aranon, the lone sailor was found aboard the raft in good health. Miceli is currently onboard the Aranon which is heading towards the port of Salvador in Brazil, where it will arrive on March 17.
Matteo began his journey on October 19, 2014 from the port of Riva Trajan in the province of Rome for his round-the-world solo trip aboard his new Eco 40 boat – a class 40 self-sufficient craft that he built completely by himself. The Eco 40 boat was equipped with two hens – a Blonde, who died while in the Indian Ocean, and a Mora (brown feathered), who was lost at sea. The craft was also equipped with a biodynamic garden with sprouts, as well as a board generator that was powered by wind and solar panels.
After having circumnavigated the globe and turning around at Antarctica, Miceli would have returned to Riva Trajan had his journey been successful. The enterprise had almost come to an end, when on the way back on its 145th day of sailing, and less than two weeks from ending his circumnavigation, the boat capsized.
Miceliโs Eco 40 did not sink, so his next task will be to recover it.
A regatta and a scientific experiment at the same time
Matteo Miceli, age 44, is a sailing boat champion with two trans-Atlantic records. He set off from Rome-Riva Trajan on October 19, 2014 with the aim to return 5-6 months after having circumnavigated the globe on his solo journey in a challenge known as the Roma Ocean World. His boat belongs to the burgee (unique boat flag) of the Yacht Club Favignana, and Miceli attempted the journey with his self-built Class 40 boat, only 13 meters long. This around-the-world trip was completed on a ship with a similar hull by a Chinese citizen on a route from China, returning back to China, taking a lower path than that of Miceli. His self-sufficient craft was certified by the Italian Sails Federation (Federvela).
Miceli produced the energy needed onboard with wind generators and solar panels, and he produced drinking water using a desalinating device located under the bow. For nourishment, he had 100 grams of carbohydrates and the same amount of dried fruit for every day. Most of the fish he would consume, he caught himself, and he gathered eggs from his hens located in the stern, and sprouts that grew in the bow. A reserve of freeze-dried foods, for emergency use only was also on hand. There was an organic garden, set in four drawers that was destroyed during a storm he encountered in the Gulf of Lion, shortly after the start of his trip. However, the garden had to be irradiated 24 hours a day by a system of LEDs, which proved to consumer too much energy than could be afforded anyway. So the alternative remained of reaping soy and alfalfa sprouts, lentils, and wheat.
The Blonde and the Mora hens were trained at sea over a course of 2,000 miles, before departure, to get them used to being at sea. They produced eggs even when the waves were 10 meters high.
Everything on the Eco 40 was monitored, recorded, and studied – from eggs to vegetable shoots, and from winds and waves to ice. The data was run via satellite and arrived to researchers at the University of Bologna, Federico II of Naples, the University of Rome, and the Polytechnic University of Turin which supported the enterprise. This was a laboratory boat built for research on climate change and on human stamina โ as well as that of animals and plants – in extreme weather and sea conditions.
And, of course, there is the sport of the whole thing. The goal of Miceli was to go as fast as possible. โI grabbed the record for the most number of miles traveled in 24 hours,” he declared at a press conference, adding, “You can go to sea without destroying the planet.”
WHAT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS ARTICLE:
- Most of the fish he would consume, he caught himself, and he gathered eggs from his hens located in the stern, and sprouts that grew in the bow.
- This around-the-world trip was completed on a ship with a similar hull by a Chinese citizen on a route from China, returning back to China, taking a lower path than that of Miceli.
- The data was run via satellite and arrived to researchers at the University of Bologna, Federico II of Naples, the University of Rome, and the Polytechnic University of Turin which supported the enterprise.