Second Guinness World Records award to creators of Scottish acclaimed toy pirate ship

The incredible story of Adventure 2, also known as A2, a Playmobil toy boat that was launched in the Atlantic Ocean in 2020 as part of a project initiated by Scottish siblings Ollie and Harry Ferguson, continues to make headlines. The project, which captured the imagination of many adventures, was recognized with a second Guinness World Records award commemorating its remarkable voyage through the Caribbean Sea, including Belize, before disappearing in the northern Atlantic in 2021. By then, it had covered 9,593.34 nautical miles, the longest distance traveled by a toy ship.
The Ferguson brothers. Ollie, 14, and Harry, 12, received the Guinness World Records certificate on March 8th in Dundee, Scotland, in the United Kingdom. Receiving credits for the A2 project were three brothers from Trinidad and Tobago, Fynn, Jax and Kai Lewis, respectively aged at the time, three, seven and ten years old, who helped in completing the record-breaking journey involving the toy pirate ship. The Ferguson family shared with The San Pedro Sun that Ollie and Harry are delighted. “We have a third boat in the water around Antarctica just now, and we hope to beat A2’s record,” they said. Currently this third vessel is a project dubbed Project Erebus and is south of South Africa and north of Antarctica.
A2 made it to the Belizean coast on January 27, 2021. The toy ship had been traveling from the eastern Caribbean, making a stop in Honduras before being tracked to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. A group of volunteers led by islander Cindy Vigna set off on a boat to meet A2. It was warmly welcomed on Ambergris Caye. Before it was taken back to the sea to continue its quest, the little toy ship underwent much-needed modifications to withstand the long journey ahead. After being on the island for a couple days, it was taken on a catamaran to a coast off Mexico from where it was released.
For days, the little ship weaved its way through the Gulf of Mexico. Then it sailed along the Cuban north coast, and finally raced past the busy Florida Keys shipping lane. Near Miami’s coast, appeals were made to recover A2. A family by the name of Alvarez answered the call and, aboard a fast boat, tracked A2 and rescued it. The little Playmobil featured messages from those who had found it in other countries, including from Belize, loaded with Belizean souvenirs.
The pirate toy ship was featured in main TV stations in Miami, like Telemundo. After undergoing further modifications and even equipped with solar panels to better face the journey across the Atlantic Ocean, it was released. The Ferguson brothers, his family, friends, and fans of A2 followed its voyage across the ocean. They were expecting it to reach the European coasts in 143 days. But unfortunately, that did not happen. In November 2021, A2 tracker stopped sending signals and the little vessel was lost. It was never recovered.
The exploratory project was born in May 2017, when Ollie and Harry built the first toy ship, named Adventure. This first Playmobil quickly gained popularity and with the assistance of several parties involved, including a Norwegian-full rigged ship it sailed from Europe to Barbados in the Caribbean. The little ship had covered 3,773.26 nautical miles and was equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS). Unfortunately, this went dead after arriving in the Caribbean and Adventure went silent in May 2019 and was never recovered.
Determined to continue Adventure’s quest, the Lewis family in Trinidad and Tobago contacted the Ferguson family during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown to start a second phase of the project. Ollie and Harry sent the Lewis siblings another Playmobil ship, just as Adventure, and following several video calls learned how to modify it to face the daunting sea. As they planned to launch A2, the project had received worldwide media attention. As such, in October 2019, Ollie and Harry were recognized by Guinness World Records for Adventure’s quest and becoming the longest distance travelled by a toy ship.
In September 2020, A2 was launched from a support ship off Guyana’s coast. No one expected that months later this creative adventure would yield a prestigious award. For now, Ollie and Harry will continue focusing on their current Project Erebus feat and seek new thrills to their ambitious bucket list of accomplishing 500 quests before their 18th birthday.