Jamaica Clipper!!!

And so, finally after a fairly lengthy wait (no doubt thanks to the credit crunch), we onboard CV2 have been officially confirmed as Jamaica Clipper. The boat, endorsed by Usain Bolt will be called Jamaica Lightning Bolt.

How we are going to fair in keeping Jamaica's name in the headlines as the fastest nation on the planet I don't know, but I can assure you we will be giving it our best shot. Pete our skipper seems to be getting pretty keen on the idea of going all out for the race.

It also means that we will get a home port on the race which is great. This will mean that unlike one or two of the other boats, we'll have our stop in Port Antonio at the end of Leg 6, where hopefully we should get a good reception and welcome from the Jamaicans.

Not sure what the design for our boat will be yet as the one in the picture above is the 07-08 design. Still remains to be seen but I'm really genuinely pleased to have been given Jamaica as a sponsor - will be great fun!

The race is really creeping up now, to say i'm excited is the under statement of the year - 20 days to go! I'm sincerely hoping we get to meet old Usain in Jamaica. I reckon after 8 months away at sea by this point, there might be one or two of us that could give him a run for his money in a sprint to the bar...

A very happy Pete, Jamaica Clipper!

Barnardos Fund Raising...

So its time to get my fundraising efforts off the ground for my charity that I'm racing for. I've decided to go with Barnardos for this adventure, one of the UK's leading Children's charities.

They do some really fantastic work and have over 400 projects in the UK now, helping with situations ranging from
drug misuse to disability, youth crime to mental health, sexual abuse to domestic violence, poverty to homelessness..

I'm really proud to be representing them so please give your support if you can! I've set up a justgiving page, which you can get to by clicking here.

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Pete

Oil Skins - Check. Boots - Check. Shorts -Check. Socks....hmmmm how many pairs to take??!!!!

So prep for the race is really beginning to take off (its just over 30 days before I set off) and I'm getting to the stage where I am faced with the usual conundrums of previous trips - what kit to take!

I'm beginning to buy the last bits I think I'll need to take with me and questions of cotton vs. synthetic, heavy weight vs. light weight, 3 pairs or 4 pairs are going round and round my head on an almost daily basis!

Training for a few weeks on the Solent gives you a fairly good idea but that is after all, only a week. Packing a bag for ten months has had me scratching my head a little, since the weather will change so significantly during the race. We'll encounter the full spectrum from freezing temperatures with snow and rough weather for weeks on end, right through to being so hot down in the galley on the way to Singapore that it becomes almost unbearable!

Planning for the trip swings almost always in favour of making me super-excited, but very occassionaly to the mind-bogglingly complex, making me crave the simplicity of adventures where you sling a bag over your shoulder and set off from your front door. This time around though it would be folly in the extreme to head out to the world's oceans without the right kit and preparation.

So while the kit debate is still in full swing, the good news is that atleast I have chosen what book I'm going to bring on the boat! Its called 'Kiss or Kill' by Mark Twight, a climber from North America. Hopefully in times of plight it will give me the mental resolve i need - no matter how bad I think I have it the suffering this guy went through to achieve his goals is epic in comparison...

Until next time...

Last training, done. Next sailing, RACE START.

So the last of my training is now complete!! We had a great week again out on Solent and in the English Channel. A real mix of weather again provided us with some good experience for the race.

Its actually quite scary to think that the next time I sail will be the race start in just 7 weeks time!!! On the one hand I feel ready and prepared and feel like we are really beginning to gel as a crew and have a skipper that will get us safely and quickly round the world.

On the other hand I try and think through the sequence of events needed to gybe the spinnaker in the middle of the night in the Southern Ocean doing over 20 knots and it all seems a bit overwhelming...

The other unfortunate news I had from this week is that I was sea sick for a period of about 24hrs. You might find this a little surprising to read on the blog of someone who is sailing round the world, but its actually quite common and there were fellow sufferers on board. I stupidly stopped taking my anti-nausea tablets and before too long a rolling sea on a downwind leg got the better of me.

Still I am not in the least bit worried, this is something I will get used to and it doesn't put me off achieving my goal of a circumnavigation.

No word on the sponsor of the boat, could be anyone - Liverpool, Cardiff, Jamaica! Who knows. Whilst its nice that we still have the surprise to come it does mean now that we have run out of time to have our boat taken out the water for our hull design. This means that the great looks of Cape Bretton, Uniquely Singapore, Hull and Humber etc. are likely to be in a different league to ours which is a shame...

All of the crew I have now met are fantastic and I'm really pleased to be sailing round the world with them, it'll make the adventure even more special sharing it with this group.

The week ended with a one on one debrief with my skipper which went well. He reckons i'm one of the stronger crew and so a leg or two as watch leader is hopefully still on the cards.

Will keep you posted. There will be plenty more general thoughts and musings over the next few weeks in the run up to the race but please keep checking back, am keen to share the trip with as many of you as possible!

Pete

PART C Training...

So I've returned, slightly battered and bruised, from a week of strong winds and rough sea conditions on my PART C training.

This was the first time I sailed with Pete Stirling, our skipper for the race, and also my crew that i'll be competing in the race with. My overiding memory i'll take from this week is that i've ended up on a great boat. Our skipper is quietly confident, extremely experienced and is pushing for a podium finish in the race. The crew is mix of people from all walks of life, some Round-the-worlders and some leggers, but all equally enthusiastic about the challenge ahead.



The week started with the Solent lulling us into a false sense of security, with blue skies and moderate winds, easy miles and everyone familiarising themselves with the boats again. The mid-week picture began to look very different however, and by the fourth day, after 48 hours of non-stop racing gybing spinnakers in the dead of night and dodging on-coming shipping we were hit by over 40 knots of wind and waves up to 15ft.

Needless to say we had a tough time of it, but it was probably ideal preparation for what is to come on some of the legs.

Watch systems were split as usual, spending 4 hours on and 4 hours off during the night and 6 on and 6 off during the day. Watch leaders weren't assigned though this week and we are still yet to see how roles on board will be assigned for the actual race.

We finished the week doing some man over board drills whilst at the same time practising what to do if the steering on the boat fails! Made for some interesting sailing and unfortunately for the fender that was thrown over the side in simulation, it would have been extremely lucky to have got him back alive. Still, practice makes perfect...

3 pints and a shower later and I completely crashed! I didn't realise just how tired I was until we were moored up and a decent nights sleep was available. I know i'll get used to this on the race but excuses like 'not being a morning person' are definitely going to have to go out the window for sure!

One of the other boats was also confirmed as being sponsored by Edinburgh and you can read about the sponsorship here. No news yet unfortunately for us, we're still known as the CV2 crew, although a rumour on the grapevine this week suggested we might actually end up being sponsored by Jamaica! Will keep you posted...

Next PART C training in 1 week and counting. Can't wait. Until then...