Jean-Jacques Savin, 75, is no stranger to adventure. A former French paratrooper, he’s sailed solo across the Atlantic four times, climbed Mt. Blanc, and in 2019 he spent four months in a barrel-like capsule floating from The Canary Islands to the island of St. Eustatius in the Caribbean.
Savin left the port of Sagres in southern Portugal on January 1 to start his latest adventure. He wanted to row, alone, across the Atlantic on his 26-foot boat. He said the trip was his way “to laugh at old age.”
Savin celebrated his 75th birthday on January 14 on the boat with champagne and foie gras. But on the night of January 20-21, he set off two distress signals, which were heard by the Portuguese Navy. They sent a corvette and three aircraft to find him; they also alerted merchant ships and French and American maritime authorities.
The Portuguese Coast Guard found his boat, l’Audacieux (The Audacious) the next day. It was turned upside down near the Azores. At first there was some confusion whether his body was found inside, but it was not. Savin apparently was lost at sea. Read more:
