Longest ever sea voyage

Reid Stowe sails into the record books with 1,152 day ocean odyssey

An American man has set the record for the longest ocean voyage after spending 1,152 days (more than three years) at sea.

Reid Stowe set off in his 70 ft. Schooner, Anne,in 2007 with his girlfriend, Soanya Ahmad. But after 300 days at sea, Ahmad began to feel sick and had to be airlifted off the boat in the Indian Ocean. She soon found out she was pregnant, and when Stowe eventually sailed into New York harbour this week, he saw his now two-year-old son, Darshen, for the first time.

Stowe now holds the record for the longest sea voyage without stopping or being re-supplied with either food or fuel. His on-board GPS system provided the proof that enabled him to sail into the record books.

“For three years I’ve been humble and silent, living very close to God and death," Reid told family, friends and media that were waiting for him.

His trip breaks the record set in the 1890s by a Norwegian ship which had travelled for 1,067 days.

The boat, Anne, was hit by another vessel just two weeks into the voyage and had its sails torn while rounding Cape Horn.

Stowe busied himself on the lonely voyage doing yoga, repairing sails and writing a book that he now hopes to get published.