As a life long sailor, I've seen too many stories like this one. Luckily your friend didn't die in the process, but too many people who think it would be very romantic to get on a sailboat and go round the world don't realize what they are getting into and do.

Just yesterday two men sank off of Nantucket on their homebuilt sailboat and the Coast Guard had to rescue them by helicopter. Luckily they were still close enough to shore to be reached. I don't know what they were thinking, but one of their most egregiously bad moves was bringing 1 survival suit for 2 people. And that is just the most recent story I've seen (like I said, it was yesterday).