Under 1000 and Counting

September 20, 2010
14:30:00 UTC
Lat: 047 degrees 07.748 North
Long: 013 degrees 35.154 West
Heading: 085 degrees
Speed (SOG): 13.61 Knots


We are under 1,000 miles to La Rochelle, France and we all feel ready to be there.  The sailing at the moment is easy miles with winds out of the SW at about 15 knots with Le Pingouin gently loping along under a full main and Code sail. We are doing 12 knots or so with spurts up to 15 knots.   We have accumulated a list of plenty of things to get done prior to the start, but nothing alarming.  It includes a whole lot of shake down type items from tweaking the rig to electrical and other minor repairs.  We hope to arrive Wednesday afternoon in France, but the wind could go soft while we transit the Bay of Biscay. Getting slowed down in this notorious body of water is better than the alternative. Hopefully it won’t knock us off our time line.

We have been trying to get some things off the punch list as we have worked our way across the Atlantic, hence the shot of me whipping a line that has been cut to its race ready length eliminating as much spaghetti in the cockpit as possible. For anyone who has the impression of a yachty lifestyle aboard an open 60 in full regalia, see the shot of Tim Eble taking a relaxing bit of time off between watches to catch a nap. Thanks for checking in with us during the final few days!

All the best,
Brad

North Atlantic Pounding

Position Sept 16, 11:00:00
Lat: 044 degrees 31.350 North
Long: 039 degrees 09.450 West
Heading: 053 degrees
Speed Over Ground: 8.5 Knots

Check for the latest position 24/7 online at http://live.adventuretracking.com/velux191

The night before last proved to be a real test for the recently refit Le Pingouin. We had a pretty intense 45-50 knot North Atlantic pounding and she took it in good stride with only minor jobs being added to our checklist for the final prep in France. With the start of the race creeping up on October 17, we will have our work cut out for us. A small tear in our very stellar new mainsail is a frustration, but we know what we need to do to change the lazy bag and reef setup to keep the rain and sea water from taking such a toll. 
  
We’ve made nice headway despite the beating and laid down a few good 24 hour runs, which means our friends Igor and Julia (current hurricanes in the Atlantic if you haven’t been following the weather as closely as we are) won’t mess things up too much. I can tell you by looking at the grib files that there is no way I would want to be where we were two days ago in the coming week.  Yikes! These Atlantic transats during tropical season can present some interesting situations! So following our great 24 hour runs, we are currently parked up in a ridge that is dogging us. Thanks for checking in on our progress. We are looking forward to arrival in France! Keep up with the blog, Facebook and Twitter on our website at www.oceanracing.org.

Best Regards,
Brad 

Getting Comfortable... Not Really

Lat: 040 degrees 10.763 North
Long: 065 degrees 01.831 West
Course: 059 degrees
Average Speed over Ground: 11.48 Knots

Today feels like a turnaround, as we have settled in as a crew and the boat seems to have settled in as well.   The days are starting to melt together and we are clicking along at 15-18 knots, well on our way to France now.  Lifestyle onboard is very “Open 60.”  It is wet, fast and hard to do much more personal hygiene than brush your teeth and baby wipe some salt off.   Meals consist of our staple Alpine Aire dehydrated food along with Grawnola for breakfast. Lots of coffee and tea keep the crew in and out of the bean bags (AKA beds). For a crew of four living aboard in this stark, small space designed for one, it gets especially interesting when we are forced to relieve ourselves in a bucket with our head poking out the aft hatch. No visuals:) The boat feels very happy to be back to work at last, as do I.  She and I have been having a few discussions and I think we agree that coming out of hiatus is a good idea, but reluctant at times. Thanks for checking in with our progress. 

Check out our latest position at http://live.adventuretracking.com/velux191.

Cheers,
Brad

Offshore Report #1

September 8, 2010
Position at 13:00:00
035 degrees 22.293 North
074 degrees 52.664 West
Course: 034 degrees
Average Speed over Ground: 10.38 Knots

I know y’all have been patiently awaiting this first report from offshore! It was a great send-off in Charleston and thanks to all the amazing people that came down to the docks and also got out on the water to bring us all the way to the jetties. Live video coverage supported by Gill and Ondeck allowed even remote friends, fans and family a chance to experience the moment.  A special Labor Day indeed!

Yesterday was a lot of upwind sailing with me and the crew tacking Le Pingouin up the North Carolina coast. I think we are in for some much better conditions today and hopefully continuing throughout the week. As anticipated following a major refit, we are discovering various little gremlins on the boat as we sail that need to be fixed underway or noted for the worklist in France. We are having some alternator issues so JC and I are spending a good part of today working on it. The hydrogenerators are cranking away and their performance in generating juice for our electronics is just amazing. All is well onboard and I’ll report back as often as possible. The best news? You can track us at your leisure with the Yellowbrick system onboard. It is updated periodically with our position and other data. You can zoom in or out for as much detail as you wish to see. Here is the link…


http://live.adventuretracking.com/velux191

Cheers,

Brad

Photo by Dustin Ryan

Photo by Dustin Ryan

Photo by Dustin Ryan

Photo by Dustin Ryan

Dustin's website: www.dustinryan.com/Charleston-Photography
Link to view more photos and/or purchase: http://dustinkryan.photoshelter.com/

Live Coverage of the Departure Online

If you are in or near Charleston, we hope you will be on the water tomorrow to see Le Pingouin and Team Lazarus depart to cross the Atlantic for the start of the Velux 5 Oceans race around the world. If not... our friends at Sailing Anarchy are going to bring it to you LIVE online. They'll start shooting at around 9am ...at the docks and continue for the 11am dockside send-off and ongoing 'til we are out the jetties and off the France. Supported by our favorite technical apparel company Gill! Catch it live: http://www.oceanracing.org/LIVE.html

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