Fastnet Yacht Race

Update 3rd June;
We now have the Justgiving fundraising page up and we're all hoping for generous donations to help support our two great charities; www.justgiving.com/fast_net

We have a good head of steam up at the moment. Our planning conference phone calls are exciting events and last hours! We will be reporting our positioning passage and the race by posting video logs onto YouTube. Earthwatch are preparing more British waters marine environment information so that our passage adds focus and awareness to our global oceans appeal.

And it's only five days until WORLD OCEANS DAY;

Monday 8th June is World Oceans Day. Why not show your support for our precious marine environment by supporting Earthwatch's Oceans Appeal?

http://www.earthwatch.org/europe/oceansappeal

Update 29th May;
Our new team member is David Taylor and what a man! He won the Ebay auction and then increased his contribution to £3000 to further support our charities. Brilliant. Interestingly, David heard about the auction from my local newspaper, the Westmorland Gazette www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/4387727.Chance_to_crew_Fastnet_with_TV_adventurer/

Update 25th May;
That's it. The Ebay auction is over and raised £2500 for the charities which is brill. We are now waiting to see who our new team member is and we are looking forward to meeting up.

Update 24th May;
Thanks for all the calls and emails! I guess it's no surprise that my little Corribee has started to get a bit of a fan club - she is beautiful.

Bidding on Ebay is getting very strategic, as we are hearing that people are waiting until the last few minutes to fight for the place. It'll be interesting! The main thing is to get as much money as possible for the charities. By Monday 1300 we'll know who our new team mate is! Great.

Update 22nd May;
Ebay bids for the last crew place are hot now and it's over £1500.

I've just ordered a very cool underwater housing for my video camera from Cameras Underwater; www.camerasunderwater.co.uk Even though we hope to have remote cameras mounted on the boat and also a larger video camera, I reckon the small ones protected with an underwater housing will get great results because they will always be handy and be where the action is.

With luck, we will feed live footage from the race too.

Update 21st May;
Good news that Impact www.impactinternational.com are preparing to do some teambuilding for us. We are a great, highly motivated bunch - but we have never all sailed together before. So the Impact help will be great. Mind you - we do have matching shirts and jackets, so we do look like a team!

Polar Bear was built for the Southern Ocean, so she is strong and massively powerful. Which means we are all keeping our fingers crossed for big winds on the race. She isn't fast in light airs. But if we get those big winds we aim to be in the top 20 across the line.

Update 20th May;
Great fun on Windermere yesterday on my little Corribee sailboat. The area newspaper did a very nice piece on me and the race. It's quite something to bob around on Windermere and think about being in one of greatest yacht races in the world soon.

I'll check how the bids are going for the last crew place auction. It's a great opportunity for someone. I reckon it'll go for well over £1500. I'm signed up for the Extreme Sea Survival course in July. KTY Yachts are running it for us. So with that plus the 10 day trip onboard Polar Bear from Bodo to Newcastle, then the positioning run down to Cowes and training there I should be ready.

Update 19th May;
BBC Radio are doing a fine job with the Fastnet. Thank you! I have got messages that some high bidders for the last crew place are holding out till the last few seconds before 1300 on the 25th May. Being part of this race is worth £5000 any day - come on - let's see your money!

Update 18th May;
I am so flippin' excited about being in the Fastnet Race this year! I have sailed since I was a young boy and it means a lot to me. I'm an experienced sailor but am not an experienced racer at all - my racing has been limited to crewing a few times on boats in the Great Lakes in the early 80's and some more regular race crewing for a few years on a beautiful Flying Fifteen with a mate from the British Antarctic Survey about 10 years ago.

For the Fastnet I'm on the "Polar Bear" and she's a 72 foot long beauty.

Check out the boat and how to join me at; http://www.earthwatch.org/europe

Two weeks ago I chartered a 34 foot yacht from Split, Croatia for a holiday and I couldn't help but think about the contrast between my relaxed cruising style and what the Fastnet will be!

I'm joining Polar Bear in Bodo, Norway in July to sail her back to Newcastle - via the Shetlands. So at least in those 10 days I'll have the chance to get to know her a bit. Plus I'm onboard from Newcastle to Cowes for Cowes week and the race start.

Steve Irwin, my Physio, www.lakessportstherapy.co.uk has changed my training schedule to really focus on my core strength. It's the old story - you can only be really fit for one main activity at a time. So I'm keeping up the cycling and running but am now really working hard on that core stuff.