A British sailor has been rescued just two days into his attempt to cross the Atlantic in a tiny 3ft 11in boat.Andrew Bedwell, 52, was hoping to fulfil his dream of breaking the world record for the smallest vessel ever to cross the ocean - a feat that has stood for more than 30 years.Mr Bedwell set sail from Newfoundland, Canada, bound for the UK on June 4, but was forced to issue a mayday call to the Canadian Coast Guard on June 6.His vessel, Big C V2, had to be abandoned at sea during the rescue.It was the second time he had attempted the crossing. His previous homemade vessel, Big C, was shelved after it sank on the first day of a 2023 voyage.Mr Bedwell, from Scarisbrick, Lancashire, previously said he hoped to raise money for Cancer Research UK after losing both his parents to the disease.But following his latest setback, he has decided to fly home to Britain and move on from the record attempt.An update from blogger NL Maritime said: 'Many people have been asking what happened to Andrew Bedwell and Big C V2 during the latest attempt to cross the Atlantic in the world's smallest ocean-going boat. A British sailor has been rescued just two days into his attempt to cross the Atlantic in a tiny 3ft 11in boat Andrew Bedwell, 52, was hoping to fulfil his dream of breaking the world record for the smallest vessel ever to cross the ocean - a feat that has stood for more than 30 years Mr Bedwell set sail from Newfoundland, Canada , bound for the UK on June 4, but was forced to issue a mayday call to the Canadian Coast Guard on June 6'What we know so far is that Andrew departed St John's, Newfoundland, on June 4 and had been at sea for only a couple of days when the voyage came to an unexpected end.'The post added: 'On June 6, the Canadian Coast Guard received a request for assistance from Andrew while he was approximately 120km east of Grates Cove, Newfoundland.'The Coast Guard vessel CCGS Sacred Bay responded, successfully recovering Andrew at around 2.15pm local time before bringing him safely ashore at Old Perlican.'The good news is that Andrew is safe. The bad news is that Big C V2 was abandoned at sea, bringing this latest record attempt to an end.'The current record holder for the smallest vessel to cross the Atlantic is Hugo Vihlen, who completed the journey in 1993 aboard Father's Day, a boat measuring 5ft 4in.Before setting off, Mr Bedwell said: 'I'm so excited, but this is a huge challenge for me as well.'Some say getting to the start is the hardest part - I hope so, and then I can look forward to doing what I love.'Following the failure of his 2023 attempt, Mr Bedwell built a new vessel, Big C V2, which was made from tougher aluminium, was fractionally larger than its predecessor and had a top speed of 4.2mph. Pictured: The Big CV2 moored at Petty Harbour, Newfoundland