Extreme athlete Gábor Rakonczay, who planned to paddle across the Atlantic while standing, reported giving up his record attempt in a live video.
Despite the failure, Rakonczay was not disappointed:
“I’m glad I’m fine. I have been doing these businesses for fourteen years, surely there are now counter-fans who are happy (…) I managed to get out of a situation after which I am glad I stayed alive. I paddled for six days…. I was doing well, my speed was good too. Unfortunately, I got soaked pretty soon, but I knew exactly what was waiting for me. ”
The first day he could not sleep at all, and later only very little. During his sleep, the waves kept pounding and he began to freeze due to his soaked clothes. He had hallucinations, and by the fourth night, he was already feeling the water warm. He thought about how good it would be to get rid of his clothes and start to sink into the 16-degree water, but luckily his brain turned on at the last minute.
“By then I knew it wasn’t quite okay”
Rakonczay said, realizing that he could no longer physically endure this, that he finally went to the border. He decided to ask for help and leave the ship he had built himself.
“You leave a dream, the support of a lot of people, the belief that we are going forward, doing it”
Explained the athlete, for whom a boat arrived three hours later, although he was not spotted in the pouring rain. When he managed to approach the SUP, he had been completely frozen. That is why they decided to deploy a rescue helicopter.
The sailor feels he will never again embark on such a risky adventure and may stay at the ultra-run.
“I don’t think I’m going to do something with such a risk factor in the future. I felt it was important to push my limits, but now I feel like it’s over ”.
debreceninap.hu
