After 75 days and 10 hours at sea, Gabor Rakonczay completed a crossing of the Atlantic Ocean from La Palma, The Canary Islands to Antigua, covering approximately 3183 miles (5123 km) on March 8, 2025.
The one key difference in canoeing across an ocean versus kayaking
In 2012 Rakonczay was the first person to cross the Atlantic ocean by canoe, an adventure that he has now repeated in 2025, but Rakonczay’s canoe looks wildly different from what comes to mind when most paddlers think of a canoe.
Rakonczay undertook these ocean trips in a vessel more similar to the ocean-going custom kayaks used by expedition kayakers such as Cyril Derremaux, or the late Aleksander Doba than a traditional open-topped canoe. Rather than a traditional “canoe” as a watercraft, it’s Rakonczay’s use of the single-bladed canoe paddle instead of the double-bladed kayak paddle that qualifies his crossing as a canoe rather than kayak crossing.
This recent Atlantic crossing by Rakonczay was concurrent with Derremaux’s most recent Atlantic crossing. The pair kept in touch throughout their respective journeys, and despite their difference in paddle choice their routes and ocean-going paddlecrafts were similar.
Rakonczay’s previous ocean crossings and attempts
In addition to two successful canoe crossings of the Atlantic, Rakonczay holds two Guinness World Records as well as a number of other awards and records.
Rakonczay twice has attempted to cross the Atlantic by standup paddleboard, in January 2020 and January 2021. According to a report by ExplorersWeb, Rakonczay’s 2020 attempt was thwarted due to water in the hull after three days, forcing him to turn back. Rakonczay’s 2021 attempt required a more dramatic rescue. In aiming to have a set up as close to a traditional standup paddleboard as possible, Rakonczay did not have a cabin to sleep in on paddleboard. Instead, Rakonczay planned to sleep tied to the deck of the craft covered in a waterproof sheet.
Unfortunately, sleep proved very challenging and by day four Rakonczay began to hallucinate due to sleep deprivation before making the decision to call for rescue, hypothermic and in an emergency lifeboat.
After completing this most recent successful canoe crossing of the Atlantic, Rakonczay wrote on Facebook that the high-risk extreme sports era of his life is closed, though he intends to continue ultra running and other adventures.
Feature Image: Rakonczay arrives in Antigua after crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Gabor Rakonczay | Facebook.
