Category: Uncategorized

Well, enough sailing. How about some rock climbing? Actually this is more like rock running. Without belay. Check it out here. Hairy, hairy, hairy…

“Something tells me I should take my time for this little maneuver…”

Found this one on the ABN Amro site as well. It’s about pushing the limits on the new VO 70s, and it has some great sailing footage plus some pretty interesting interviews. Check it out here…

Sailing On The Edge: “Hey, Crusty, is this fast enough…?”

Offshore Challenges, the very slick, very capable, management and marketing group run by Ellen MacArthur and her guru Mark Turner, have managed to come up with a great new idea for a global sailing race: a non-stop circumnavigation, doublehanded. It’s called the Barcelona World Race because it, uh, starts and finishes in Barcelona. The BWR will be sailed in Open 60 yachts and first gun will be November 11, 2007 (click here for the full PDF info sheet). It will be staged every four years, making it a great warmup to the solo Vendee Globe, which will follow a year later. I’m liking it, and who knows where it will lead: doublehanded in multihulls? Fully crewed, non-stop in monohulls? Solo the wrong way? The possibilities are endless. And we thought there was nothing new under the sailing sun. Nice job, Offshore Challenges…

Input From Another Sailor Can Be Good: “Hey, Alex. Why don’t you try sailing this thing over the ocean instead of through it…?”

It’s one of the last good “firsts” left. Woman. Solo. Wrong way (westabout) circumnavigation. Non-stop. Nope. It’s never been done, and that is enough to tempt not one, not two, but three women into the boats. First up will be Brit Global Challenge skipper Dee Caffari, sailing her 72-foot Global Challenge yacht (yes, it’s been modified). She sets off on November 20, and you can follow the action at her site here. Also in the hunt is another Brit, former ocean rower Debra Searle (who is also a Global Challenge alum). Searle (website here) plans to leave next year in a modified Volvo Ocean 60 (former NewsCorp). She’s got big backing from Pindar, and Ellen MacArthur’s Offshore Challenges will be managing the project. And last but not least, we have TWC favorite, Frenchwoman Mad Maud Fontenoy, also a converted ocean rower. It’s not clear when Fontenoy plans to set out, but she has a good ride, current record-holder Jean Luc Van Den Heede’s Adrien. Apparently Fontenoy (check out her website here) decided she needed a change after Roland Jourdain’s Sill blew past her as she was painfully pulling her way across the Atlantic. That would convert anyone. Anyhow, this is a great development in solo racing. The time to beat is, well any time would be a woman’s record. But Chay Blythe did it in 292 days, Mike Golding in 161 days, Philippe Monnet in 151 days, and Van Den Heede got around in 122 days. Go girls, er, ladies, er, whatever. We’ll be following closely…

“Just Do It” Dee Caffari: I’ve got a head start…

Dame Debra Searle: I’ve got Pindar, Offshore Challenges, and Ellen on the speed dial…”

Ms. Maudy: “I’ve got that je ne se quois, and you can’t bottle it girls…”

Time to start paying attention, because the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006 bangs off in just 11 days. Read Pirate Paul (Cayard)’s latest update–always entertaining–here. And check out this killer ABN Amro video (courtesy of a tip from Team Weatss bowman Trey Ruthven). This is going to be an incredible race. Stay tuned…

Wet And Wild: And This Is Just Training…

You’ve most likely never heard of her. But Arlene Blum is a pioneering climber, the first woman to lead a team of women up Denali, and then Annapurna, in the 1970s. She’s written a book now, called Breaking Trail, recounting her high altitude exploits. And you can read an excellent LA Time profile here. Here’s an excerpt:

“Unlike many of her peers, Blum is not afraid to admit to the great unspoken on big, vengeful mountains — fear. That’s a specialty of the House of Horrors called Annapurna. She led an expedition in 1978 to put the first women atop the fickle 8,000-meter peak. But the mountain’s notorious avalanches came down night and day, one just missing Blum and taking out a cache of gear, and another so massive — two miles long, she estimates — that the wind from it blew members of her team across the mountain. “It was terrifying,” recalled Blum. “After that I lost my motivation to reach the top. I suddenly realized that Annapurna was way more dangerous than we had anticipated.”

She broached turning back, but got no takers. So her goal shifted to logistics — getting someone to the top and down again as soon as possible. Two weeks later four members of her party were standing on the summit. Blum tried to talk a second team out of a summit attempt, but the climbers wanted their shot. Two women who set out for the summit never returned, killed by an avalanche or rockfall.”

The dangerous ones are gender-neutral, apparently…

Big-Mountain Blum: “This hat is stylish, but maybe something a bit warmer would be wise…”

It’s Friday, so that must mean it’s time for another cool surfer gallery. This one comes from photographer David Troyer, who obviously likes to hang out in wave tubes…

TWC posted on this wacky dolphin sub last year. But I only had pictures. Now, I have video, and it looks as cool as ever. And amazingly real, too..

In case you need another hit or two to tide you over.

Here’s a video of Darwin in action (warning: mild gore, major stupidity…). We’re talking the worst face plant I’ve ever seen. Classic postmodern comment: “We’ve got it on camera which is kind of cool…Your whole face is bleeding.”

Whew, after that one I need a smoke. At least this looks like a smoke, sort of, underwater, you’ll see what I mean…