The Brown brothers crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a 21'1'' powerboat, without a cabin or a keel. 
 
The previous world record was a 21'4'' powerboat that had both a cabin and a keel. There were actually two separate boats 21'4" that made the voyage, both were primary designed for that voyage.

Florida brothers did it in a stock flats Boat, no cabin, no keel drafting a lot less than a foot.

"There were times we were afraid for our lives, but we never thought for once we wouldn't make it," Ralph Brown said. They survived being hit by an iceberg and massive waves from the remnants of hurricanes. They've seen glaciers, seals and even whales.

Ralph and Robert started their adventure from Tampa, Florida, and continued up the US east coast, to Canada, Greenland, Iceland and Scotland.

They undertook the voyage to honor Ralph’s former Marine comrades who died in 1980 in a botched mission called Operation Eagle Claw, in which several branches of the military attempted to liberate the American Embassy in Iran after terrorists took the ambassador and his staff hostage.

Their open fishing boat separates itself from other smaller boats that have made the crossing is that it does not have a cabin, a keel, a sail, or an escort and it had to carry its own fuel. This boat literally runs in less than an incredible four inches of water, including the motor.

While experts said it was impossible to survive the 7000 plus miles of open ocean, the Brown brothers stepped off their tiny open fishing boat at 6:40 pm, London Time, Friday, September 4, 2009 at the Limehouse Marina in downtown London.

The brother's remained completely exposed to the elements for the entire voyage and did not have a keel to right the boat if it were to flip. 

Ralph and Bob Brown survived being run over by an iceberg in Greenland, almost running out of fuel hundreds of miles from shore, refusing to be rescued three separate times, surviving massive waves from the remnants of two hurricanes, being slammed into rocks by gale force winds, running out of money and many other amazing events.

Although the boat retained seaworthiness, some of the attached equipment has literally fallen apart from the impact of an estimated 140,000 slams during the crossing.

This is not the first time Ralph and Robert Brown have set a World Record. In 2007, their 1400 mile adventure started from North Carolina to Bermuda and back to NYC. They were awarded the "Longest Non Stop Ocean Voyage in a Flats Boat"

As a reminder, large areas of shallow water are called "Flats", boats that can operate well in that super shallow water are called "Flats Boats".

The world record was sponsored by "I Am Second" presented by Interstate Battery.