Leaving for the Start

We are preparing for a departure at 11:00am on Monday (Labor Day). This will be the time we expect to leave the Seabreeze Marina dock in Charleston. Busy today and tomorrow loading gear, provisions, etc. Landlubbers can wave us off the dock at 11am Monday and those planning to get on the water will see us shortly thereafter in the harbor. Please stay tuned to this blog or our Facebook page for any updates/changes. Thanks for all your enthusiasm and support!

Brad

Second Day on the Water with More Wind

We had more of the same yesterday on our second day of sail testing, tweaking and prep work for the race. We had 20 knots of breeze out of the east, so the winds were up a bit. We’ll be working with Spinlock today on the jammers and continuing to tune the rig. We’ll also mount the hydrogenerators and get them running again for our zero fossil fuel goal. Thanks to the Quantum Sail team for all their help and the best looking sails I have ever owned!

Cheers,
Brad

Photos by Dustin K. Ryan

First Real Sail Ends in Blasting Down the Channel at 20 Knots

Yesterday was our first real sail following the complete refit of Le Pingouin. We took off from the marina at about 11:00am and headed out of Charleston Harbor. The weather was looking perfect for a true test of our complete new sail inventory. Farley with Quantum Sails was onboard, along with my crew, volunteers, and a computer specialist who continues to dial in the nav station equipment and offshore communications.

We had some real breeze once we were out of the harbor, but everything went as smoothly as I could hope for. We started with 3 reefs in the mainsail and the staysail, then 2 reefs in the mainsail and the solent, and worked our way up to the gennaker. Of course we have a punch list of things to do after this initial outing and some refining to do on the deck layout, but overall this baby can run!

On our way back into the harbor in the late afternoon we were blasting down the channel at 20 knots. We will continue to tweak and tune the boat on another sail today. Thanks to Dustin Ryan for enduring the rough weather to capture images and John Bowden for driving the chase boat!

Cheers,
Brad

Photo by Dustin K. Ryan

Photo by Dustin K. Ryan

Getting Close to Launch

I am excited to report that Le Pingouin has moved out of the shed. She is looking great and we are on our way to having the keel installed. Installing a canting keel into one of these boats is a very involved process. We’ve used hydraulic jacks to pump the keel up into the bottom of the boat. CMMC Machine has made some beautiful new stainless steel parts for us and all of their machine work looks to be spot on. The crew at Detyens Shipyard has once again proved they are real pros. After we get the keel affixed to the boat, we’ll move on to putting the rig together and getting this baby in the water. Enjoy the photos below!

Thanks for checking in,
Brad

Le Pingouin

Allow me to introduce Le Pingouin. This name is actually not new to the boat. Back in 1998 when the boat was built in France Catherine Chabaud registered the boat with officials as Le Pingouin, although her sponsor Whirlpool took the large share of branding. Although the boat changed hands several times and donned the graphics of many corporate sponsors, it has always been technically registered as Le Pingouin. Having circled the globe three times already, I think she has a rich heritage in the world of ocean racing.

Despite an enormous amount of time and effort in seeking a Title/Naming Sponsor for the upcoming race, we have not secured a company wishing to brand the 10,000 square feet of space available on the sails and hull and enjoy the vast media and hospitality perks. So without an all-American brand or global company involved, we went back to the roots of the boat, just as I have gone back to my roots of ocean racing after years of land-based activities. We hope the graphics, designed by cre843, showcase the potential for creative branding onboard. When we land a Title/Naming Sponsor, the name of the boat and lion’s share of graphics will be changed to reflect the graphic choices of the sponsor.

So what about that penguin? Meg thinks he looks angry. I say he is determined. The prospect of sailing 30,000 miles alone in some of the roughest ocean terrain is intimidating, and I think you need a certain amount of tension to face the challenges. A perky, happy penguin image would not be right for the race. I expressed my emotions about the race and preparations for the event with Brian Zimmerman of cre843, a design firm based in Charleston. He developed the friendly but fierce penguin and the design of the hull, deck and sails.

You might see our tagline in some of the photos which states “FULL NOISE OR NO NOISE.” It takes extreme measures to get a boat race-ready with a small team and limited funding. We are either pushing really hard or chilling out. We do it right or we don’t do it at all. Offshore, this translates into an attitude of determination and using every ounce of physical and mental energy I have to compete well and be the first American to officially complete three solo races around the world.

We will get more great photos as the branding is complete and we roll Le Pingouin out of the shed. Thanks to all the individuals and companies that have been supportive of our efforts thus far, including B&G, Simrad, Gill, Samson, Awlgrip, Harken, High and Dry Boatworks, Alpine Aire, Detyens, CMMC Machine, Charleston Rigging, and many others. Thanks for checking in!

Cheers,
Brad

Photos below by Tim Eble:

My son Wyatt checking out the boat - Photo by Meaghan

Come Visit Us This Thursday

Hi All,

Many local businesses have been supportive of the Lazarus Project and getting us (almost) through the refit and race-ready. West Marine has been a great help and will host a casual reception this Thursday evening starting at 6:30pm at their West Ashley location. I'll show some video from the last race and also provide a personal update on the current project with photos of our progress. Come down for a visit and check it out before we launch the boat in August and take off for the start of the Velux 5 Oceans in France on October 17. The race will not visit Charleston until April/May 2011, so it should be fun to get together now and tell you more about the upcoming race and the fleet to expect next year. Food and beverages will be served courtesy of West Marine.

West Marine in West Ashley
Thursday July 15, at 6:30pm
975 Savannah Hwy. (by the Coburg Cow)

If you have any questions, feel free to call West Marine at 843.573.0123

Refit Continues at Full Throttle

We are slammed at the shop right now trying to wrap up all the work on the boat while she is off the keel.  We are starting to make real headway on putting the boat back together at this point.  I am fully absorbed in the wiring and installation of the new B&G system at the moment, while others are working on a complete new deck layout.  I wish we were rolling out of the shed now but it will probably be the 1st of August at this point.  The work also continues with having to re-fair the keel. A pretty serious survey required taking the fairing off the keel to conduct the necessary ultrasound, flex test, and die penetration testing. The really great news is that the boat will be fantastic and I feel very confident in the work Jeffrey and all the boys have put in.

Outside of the boatyard, the last two weeks have been busy with media commitments. A videography crew from England came in for three days to capture all the pre-race preparations and the lifestyle of getting ready for the big race. Charleston Magazine also sent over a photographer for a feature coming out in their August issue. It is quite a balancing act with the hard core work at the yard, sponsorship talks and making sure we keep the story rolling out for all to see. The start is just three months away, so it feels like there is still a lot to accomplish. Thanks to my shore support team, volunteers and supporting sponsors for all the hard work that is going into this endeavor!

Thanks for checking in. I will keep news posted as we make progress.

Cheers,
Brad

TV News and a Bright New Paint Job

Big news this week!  First, the announcement of the reality TV show for the North American market related to the Velux 5 oceans is a HUGE step forward for getting attention to the sport of single-handed racing in the US market. Phil Keoghan is a big name in Hollywood and he is committed to hosting and producing a show that brings major exposure to the sport. Can we actually get the sport to the same revered status here in the US as in France and England? If so, then Katy bar the door on the future of this sport!

Second, the boat will be very yellow.  At least until a title sponsor tells us to cover it with their branding.  We are talking bright yellow… “watch out, here I am yellow.”  Things are going well and thankfully we have some supporters that feel the passion of what we are trying to do for the sport of sailing and allowing the project to stay on track.  However, we do need to secure a Title/Naming Sponsor that sees the value in 10,000 square feet of branding and 12 months of media exposure worldwide. Supporting sponsors are a big help and collectively make a big impact, plus add credibility to all we intend to do. There is no doubt we have real evidence of the media return and benefits to sponsors, with Balance Bar and Tommy Hilfiger seeing $25 million+ in media value.

For now the campaign is about all of us that love the sport of sailing and what it offers in so many ways.  Please take pride in the bold and brash statement this boat will make when it comes out of the shed.  Race cars have nothing on the adventure of sailing the world’s oceans. It is time for the rest of the world to reunite with the sport that spawned the way the world was explored and traded upon for thousands of years!

Regards and more info soon,
Brad

Photos courtesy of Kurt Oberle, High and Dry Boat Works and Awlgrip

Paint is Flying

At this point we have really turned the corner with the refit of the boat.  We are putting new paint on and next we will be putting all the systems back together.  This will involve electronics, deck hardware, rudder bearings, standing rigging, running rigging and everything else that makes a race boat ready, right down to the line bags in the cockpit.  While we are behind our original schedule, we are still very much focused on getting the boat launched with plenty of time to be fully up to speed for the delivery back to France later this summer. 

The fun part over the next two weeks or so will be sharing the re branding of the boat as the paint continues to fly.  As with any paint job, the rewarding part is to see the primers and colors start to go down. After weeks of prep work the payoff is when you lay paint on the boat to see the fruits of all the labor that went into sanding, filling, sanding again and again and then finally prepping for the color. Thanks to Awlgrip for their support and the many others that have contributed to the refit.

More pictures of the painting will come soon.

All the best,
Brad

Shop Talk

Sailing Anarchy stopped by the shop for a 19-minute interview about the campaign, the challenging nature of corporate sponsorship in ocean racing, and the meaning of 'Full Noise or No Noise!', Team Lazarus's slogan.  Check out the Sailing Anarchy Innerview below!
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=406307449338&saved

Or visit www.sailinganarchy.com.