
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 11, 1993                   TAG: 9307110043
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON                                LENGTH: Short

TINY BOAT RECORD SEEKER DOING OK

The family of Hugo Vihlen went almost two weeks without word on how he was faring in his attempt to reclaim the record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean in the smallest boat.

"If you don't hear any bad news, you assume it's good news," said Vihlen's son, Dana.

A week ago, Vihlen radioed the crew of a TWA jet as it flew over "Father's Day," his 5-foot, 4-inch sailboat.

"Basically, his message was he was having a good time, he was in good shape and not to worry," his son said in a telephone interview Thursday from Pittsburgh.

The boat was about 600 miles east of Canada and traveling about 50 miles a day, the son said. Vihlen, 61, a retired airline pilot from Homestead, Fla., hopes to arrive in Falmouth, England, on Aug. 6.

For 25 years, he held the record for crossing the Atlantic in the smallest boat. In 1968, he skippered the 6-foot "April Fool" from Casablanca, Morocco, to Florida.

The record was broken by Tom McNally of Liverpool, England, who sailed from the Portuguese island of Madeira and arrived May 10 at San Juan, Puerto Rico. McNally's boat is about a half-inch larger than "Father's Day."

Vihlen attempted to reclaim the record June 2 when he sailed from Cape Cod, but the Coast Guard stopped him 26 miles from the coast. Coast Guard officials ruled the boat wasn't capable of making the trip. After losing an appeal of the ruling, Vihlen took off from Canada June 14.

by CNB