Genre: Documentary
Release Year: 2014
Runtime: 171
Language: English
Director: Amy Flannery
Plot: Red Dot on the Ocean is the story of Matt Rutherford, a severely troubled youth, who became a sailing legend. Departing Annapolis, MD in a scrappy, old 27-foot fiberglass sloop without fanfare, 30-year-old Rutherford braved the icebergs of the arctic and mountainous waves of Cape Horn to become the only person to ever sail single-handed, non-stop around the Americas a journey many professional sailors declared “a suicide mission.†The story of Matt’s 27,000 mile journey is told through his own footage and photographs of the voyage and interviews with friends, family, and sailing experts. As a youngster, Matt’s ADHD and tics made life at home and at school near-impossible. At age 13 he was in drug rehab and he spent his remaining teen years more on the streets than in school. Then, at age 17, locked up in a cell, he had an epiphany and began to turn his life around. Matt bought his first boat – sight unseen on the Internet and learned to sail on the fly. Four years later, in 2008, he embarked on a single-handed voyage from the USA to Europe, West Africa and back across the Atlantic to the Caribbean he’d found his calling. His next challenge was to circumnavigate the Americas. And, after 309 days at sea, he achieved his goal and sailed into Annapolis to a hero’s welcome. Matt Rutherford’s story is full of surprises. It is truly inspiring and makes us all feel we can do more than we ever imagined.