He is 81 years old and still sailing the oceans on his own.

He is certainly an accomplished (and fit!) sailor - I am sure that he could afford a bigger, more conventional boat for voyaging in, but he does not care to.
There is a very long thread about him on the Boat Design Forum -
Why I'm Following Sven Yrvind

Re sailing in a small boat, maybe Sven would be better off with a boat more like this one in the video link below - she is only 4 metres long, but this lad crossed the Atlantic in her in 29 days.
 
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