French adventurer Jean-Jacques Savin found dead at sea while crossing the Atlantic alone

A 75-year-old French adventurer trying to row across the Atlantic Ocean was found dead on Saturday, his support team reported.

Jean Jacques Savin He had made a similar journey in 2019, but on board a barrel to sail.

“Unfortunately, this time the ocean was stronger than our friend, who loved sailing and the sea so much,” reads a statement on his Facebook page.

Everything indicates that on Thursday night he faced problems and activated two emergency beacons. However, the reason for his death remains under investigation.

His family had not heard from him since and were “waiting for a ray of hope, and even good news,” according to a post on his Facebook profile.

But on Friday, Portuguese maritime officials found Savin’s canoe capsized off the Azores, a chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean.

The former military paratrooper, who celebrated his birthday at sea last week with foie gras and champagne, set out on January 1 from Sagres, in southern Portugal, with the aim of crossing the ocean alone.

On Wednesday, he wrote on Facebook that strong winds had lengthened his journey by 900 km (560 miles) and said he was having problems with his solar power source. But he added: “Rest assured that I am not in danger!”

Savin commented that he would fix the mishaps once he reached the “beautiful marina” of Ponta Delgada, the capital of the Azores.

His original plan was to spend about three months in the 25-foot canoe, which he referred to as his “friend.”

For him, the rowing feat was a way of “laughing at old age”.

The barrel ride

In 2019, the adventurer successfully crossed the Atlantic in an orange, barrel-shaped capsule, using only sea currents to propel him through the water for 4,500 km (2,800 miles), a journey of 122 days.

The boat measured 19 meters and was built by Savin himself in a shipyard in the south-west of France.

The trip served him to launch devices into the sea that later helped several scientists to study ocean currents.