Good article. Now that the boat was identified as a (Pearson Yachts built) Alberg 35, and that it was upright (as we suspected), the survival story makes much more sense. Just about any boat can be knocked over if you hit it with a big enough wave. A good sailboat (a good design with a reputable builder) will right itself -- which is what happened in this case. If the boat had been well stocked with food he could have continued on much longer.

What we have here is a guy who had less experience than required, but he had a good boat so he got away with a bad plan -- a small bit of luck helped. Counting on luck is not a good strategy. What probably happened is he drifted into a shipping lane where one of the ships finally saw him.