Depends on the crossing. Usually they will choose a route that is favorable. This is probably the same as the ocean crossings by row boat.

https://youtu.be/6SYHamnHqU8?si=vp-NLeMnsdQz1R-Z

Generally speaking there is a route called the "Milk Run" from Europe to the Caribbean that has tail winds and good currents in the right direction. Also much nicer weather.

Portugal to French Guiana means following the North Atlantic Gyre - The Canary Current then the North Equatorial Current.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Gyre

Looking at the current maps, I think most of the paddling will be southward, to get down to South America rather than the Caribbean.

For example, Thor Heyerdahl's Ra II, a square-sailed reed boat, went from Morocco to Barbados - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl#Boats_Ra_and_Ra... .

The people I've heard of who have rowed across the Atlantic generally do Canary Islands to the Caribbean. There's even "The World's Toughest Row" for that route - https://www.worldstoughestrow.com/ .

People have already rowed solo across the Atlantic and Pacific.

Rowing won't get the attention the paddleboard will?

The whole project is a series of neat stunts that bring publicity to the cause. They also make documentaries.

There are easier ways to make money, though, so it's fair to think there are more important motivations.

Assume you viewpoint is correct. How is this different from so many tech bros?

The person is doing something physically and technically challenging. Perfect HN material.

Would love to dive into how he built the paddleboard, etc.

Likely talks that they fly him to thus making him a lager than average cause of global warming...

The blurb says it is an 'offshore' paddle board and that they do expect to encounter storms.

Well.. better doing that then trying to understand cryptic C++ compiler warnings.

Why are humans pushing themselves to do challenging stuff? I don't know man, but it's just what we do, and I think that's cool.

We don't. I'm not going to try this. You appear to not want to either, and that is fine. He is trying this, and I see no reason anyone should prevent him from trying. (I'm open to changing my mind if someone comes up with good justification, but in generally I like the freedom message and so place a high bar on what a good justification would be)

Where on the page are you quoting from?

"Hyperdiffusionism is a pseudoarchaeological hypothesis that postulates that certain historical technologies or ideas were developed by a single people or civilization and then spread to other cultures. Thus, all great civilizations that engage in what appear to be similar cultural practices, such as the construction of pyramids, derived them from a single common progenitor." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperdiffusionism

Thor Heyerdahl advocated hyperdiffusionist ideas, and to his credit showed two such routes were possible. However, "His hyperdiffusionist ideas on ancient cultures had been widely rejected by the scientific community, even before the expedition." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl

I write more about it at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44399051 .

This was my question too, my bet is support from a vessel and so this whole thing is kind of silly.

Fresh water will presumably be reverse-osmosis energy-recovery desalination. These are normal on sailboats nowadays and often driven off a small PV array like shown on the pictures of the paddleboard.

Regards food, the paddleboard looks about the same size as people who have previously rowed across the Atlantic solo.

> You can cross the Atlantic in 100 days with zero emissions

Which is fine for a lot of the cross-Atlantic shipping traffic that is currently contributing to the CO2 emissions.

Zero? Human exhales like 2kg of CO2 every day. That is just 200kg of CO2 emmisions from existing!

> Preparations for this special challenge have been ongoing for many months. However, for a project like this to come together, a lot of things have to fit together perfectly.

Take all the people, time and energy spend on preparations! It is probably several tons of CO2! Very long list of sponsors!

I refuse to believe, that super economy flight for $130 has higher CO2 emmisions than this stunt! It is like taking public transport!

> 100 days with zero emissions

By my back of the envelope math, burning 600000 kcal should produce couple hundred kg of CO2. You could also make that crossing in less than a third of the time under sail, with about a third of the daily calorie consumption, for maybe a tenth of the CO2 output.