$90,000. It was a worn out race boat laid up unmaintained in Newport. It looked like too much work to fix in the time. Laurie tried to get a more expensive (and even more unsuitable) boat in Bermuda. The cheque didn't clear, so they had a marine surveyor look at the Newport boat again. He told them to walk away from it (and now can't get his airfare refunded) - Laurie ignored his advice.
You seem to know what you’re talking about. What would it cost to do this trip properly?
In the short space of just a few days, this poor girl has gone from lost at sea to a money-cadging ne’er-do-well; how fickle the public image...