When you’re alone on a 60ft yacht in the depths of the Southern Ocean, thousands of miles from land or help, the last thing you want is to lose to control of your boat. But that was the situation facing Canadian Derek Hatfield last night when he awoke to find his Eco 60 Active House screaming along at a dangerously quick 21 knots, struggling to cope with a Southern Ocean squall.
 
The 58-year-old solo sailing veteran had been enjoying a rare moment of rest when he was woken from his sleep by the sound of Active House’s keel humming, a sign that she was traveling incredibly fast through the water. He scrambled on deck to find the wind had whipped up to 35 knots and Active House had accelerated from a comfortable 13 knots to 21.
 
“I was asleep when a squall came through and I woke to the sound of the keel humming,” Derek explained. “I put some foulies on quickly and went on deck to find Active House doing 21 knots. It was unbelievable, she was totally out of control. When you’re asleep and you wake up to that it’s a bit of a shock. It was the middle of the night, pitch black and quite disconcerting.
 
“I had to slow the boat down she was going so fast. It sounds funny that I would be trying to slow the boat down in a yacht race but it’s all about getting that balance between speed and safety.”
 
The incident took place near to Point Nemo, the most remote place on the planet, around 2,000 miles from land in every direction. “Going too quickly can get very dangerous very quickly and we are not in a place where you can afford for anything to go wrong,” Derek added.
 
Derek also revealed that he discovered a water leak in the mid compartment on Active House which he has been bailing out daily. He also had a scare when he went on deck to find the baby stay – the smaller, inner forestay – had disconnected from the deck. Luckily there was no damage and Derek managed to secure the stay using a spare bolt.
 
“I’ve been full on over the last few days trying to deal with all this stuff and race the boat at the same time,” Derek said. “I feel my speeds and tactics are suffering a little, but I’m doing my best to hang on to Brad and Gutek.”
 
The 1200 UTC position report polled Derek in third place just under 200 nautical miles behind sprint leader Brad Van Liew and less than 25 nautical miles behind second placed Zbigniew Gutkowski. At midday Derek was 200 nautical miles from the exit of the sprint three speed gate.
 
Ocean sprint three positions at 12h00 UTC:
 
Skipper / distance to finish (nm) / distance to leader (nm) / distance covered in last 24 hours (nm) / average speed in last 24 hours (kts)
 
Brad Van Liew, Le Pingouin: 3021.3/ 0/ 240.1/10
Zbigniew Gutkowski, Operon Racing: 3193.2/171.9/210.2/8.8
Derek Hatfield, Active House: 3217.1/195.8/ 229.5/9.6
Chris Stanmore-Major, Spartan: 3351.2/ 329.9/ 263.4/ 11

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CHRIS Stanmore-Major has been forced to carry out vital repairs to his yacht Spartan in the middle of the Southern Ocean after a 2.5-metre rip developed in his mainsail. The 33-year-old from Cowes, UK, had been chasing the leading pack in the third sprint of the VELUX 5 OCEANS solo round the world yacht race when disaster struck.
 
Despite blasting along through big seas en route to Cape Horn, Stanmore-Major, known as CSM, had no choice but to drop Spartan’s huge mainsail onto the deck to attempt a repair in the freezing, wet conditions.
 
CSM said: “I was about to change my mainsail from the second reef to the third reef. As I went to pull the reef in one of the screws that holds the mainsail track onto the mast caught on one of the sliders and the main would neither go up nor come down. It took about an hour to sort all that out. I tried to bear away and slow the boat down but by the time I got the slider moving again I looked along the sail and saw a huge rip had opened up in the back of the mainsail. The rip is about 2.5 metres long along the leech and the back 200mm of my sail is hanging off.
 
“It’s put a real crimp on proceedings. I’ve got the big Solent headsail up but it can’t pull as well the mainsail can push, so where we were doing about 15 knots we’re now doing 10 or 11 knots. It took two days for me to get into this position but now I have to sail a higher angle and that’s going to slow me down considerably.”
 
Over the past few days CSM, currently in fourth place, had been catching third placed Derek Hatfield, the gap between the two reducing from 160 nautical miles at the beginning of the week to 140 nautical miles yesterday.
 
“It’s a real disappointment but I’m doing the best I can,” CSM added. “It could be an interesting 24 hours. I’ve got to get the top part of that big mainsail off the boom, control it on the deck, lash it down as best I can then stretch out the ripped section of sail on the deck and get it stuck back together.
 
“At the moment I’ve got 35 knots on deck coming over the port quarter. The boat is making good speed still so there’s a lot of spray. The sail weighs just short of 200 kilos. I don’t have to move the whole lot but I do have to be very careful not to lose control otherwise it could be disastrous. Although I will lose a bit more ground on the rest of the fleet it is vital that I fix the tear. It’s something that I do once and I do right. Leaving it as it is would just result in the tear getting bigger. It’s just not an option.”
 
CSM is due to exit the easterly speed gate later today. He has less than 2,000 nautical miles to go until he reaches Cape Horn, the next major milestone on the sprint to Punta del Este in Uruguay.
 
Ocean sprint three positions at 12h00 UTC:
 
Skipper / distance to finish (nm) / distance to leader (nm) / distance covered in last 24 hours (nm) / average speed in last 24 hours (kts)
 
Brad Van Liew, Le Pingouin: 2741.7/ 0/ 279.6/11.7
Zbigniew Gutkowski, Operon Racing: 2942.2/200.5/251/10.5
Derek Hatfield, Active House: 2974/232.4/ 243/10.1
Chris Stanmore-Major, Spartan: 3201.5/ 459.8/ 149.8/ 6.2

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Canadian’s on-the-water battle with Gutek set to go to the wire
 
VETERAN solo sailor Derek Hatfield has vowed to fight tooth and nail to beat rival ocean racer Zbigniew ‘Gutek’ Gutkowski into Wellington in the second sprint of the VELUX 5 OCEANS. The pair have been locked in a bitter Southern Ocean duel for more than three weeks, constantly trading second and third positions and at one point were less than five nautical miles apart.
 
After taking third place in the first sprint of the VELUX 5 OCEANS from La Rochelle to Cape Town, Active House skipper Derek vowed to push even harder in the second sprint through the Southern Ocean from Cape Town to Wellington in New Zealand. And that is just what the 58-year-old has been doing, chasing race leader Brad Van Liew hard while locking horns with Gutek in the battle for second place. With less than a week left at sea, Derek said his fight with his Polish rival could go down to the wire.
 
“It will be interesting to see who gets to Wellington first – the race is about to get even more exciting,” said Derek, who was at the last position report in third place, 28.7 nautical miles behind Gutek. “We seem to be matching each other boat-wise and we’re in the same stretch of water so the weather conditions are similar. I am very competitive and I will fight tooth and nail to beat Gutek because we are so close. That said, one of the great things about the VELUX 5 OCEANS is that you can be fierce competitors on the water and the best of friends off the water.
 
“Of course, I am still keeping an eye on Brad too. He’s about a day and a half ahead of us right now, and although I would never wish any bad luck on anyone, one little breakage and he could be slowed right up. Yacht races are never over until you are across the finish line.”
 
Following the aftermath of the big storm that swept through the fleet last week the VELUX 5 OCEANS skippers have been enjoying more favourable conditions for several days. Their next challenge comes in the form of a high pressure system that is lying in wait for them as they sail south of the Australian island of Tasmania.
 
Derek added: “It will be interesting to see first of all how everyone handles this high pressure system and then which way they are going to round New Zealand to get into Wellington. Brad will be looking over his shoulder to see which way we are lining up to go and we’re looking forward to see which way he’s going to go. It can be a real deciding factor.”
 
Ocean sprint two positions at 00h00 UTC:
 
Skipper / distance to finish (nm) / distance to leader (nm) / distance covered in last 24 hours (nm) / average speed in last 24 hours (kts)
 
Brad Van Liew, Le Pingouin: 1300.7/ 0 / 223.1 / 9.3
Zbigniew Gutkowski, Operon Racing: 1609.8/ 309.1 / 283.5/ 11.8
Derek Hatfield, Active House: 1638.6/ 337.8/ 240.3/ 10
Chris Stanmore-Major, Spartan: 2228.4/ 927.6/ 240.5 / 10

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A New Years posting from the Velux 5 Oceans Skippers

An excerpt from Leader Brad Van Liew’s blogspot:

 ”2011! Wow, are you kidding?? That makes me really middle aged. I thought that would never happen, but bring it on! I have the distinct pleasure of ringing in the New Year in the middle of nowhere with no champagne, no woman to kiss at midnight, no ball dropping and nobody to sing that “old acquaintance be forgot” song that must be sung in unison annually. Instead, I will be pondering the meaning of life in what is forecast to be a moderate Southern Ocean sailing experience with all my Southern Ocean friends.

What will I do for New Year’s 2011?

First, Le Pingouin (LP) and I will have a chat as she has a lot to say about being middle aged. Boats live in dog years.? It is about seven years to one human year so she actually just broke through 60 years old. She also has more circumnavigations under her voluminous brazier than I do. She has done this race twice before and the Vendee globe twice as well, so this is her 5th solo circumnavigation race while it is my 3rd. It is quite amazing to think that she had more than 150,000 miles in global racing mileage before we even started this adventure. The ole girl is still one of the fastest monohulls ever conceived. Combined LP and I have spent more than a year of our lives hanging out down here in the most remote place on Earth. I still feel hardly welcome and am a strong advocate for the “tread lightly and garner safe passage” theory to get through this inhospitable but beautiful place.

Following my chat with LP, I will speak with the animals that constantly escort me along my route. The birds here are fantastic. They seem so fragile as they fly in circles around the boat and flitter about in the wake of LP as we charge along. Regardless of the weather they are always there and seem genuinely interested in why I would be asking for permission to transit their private place on Earth. The flock of birds I constantly encounter represent as many different sizes and shapes as the fleet of aircraft man has built, and they look their part. The Albatross look like B52 bombers with huge glider shaped wings and robust torsos as they fly forever while seemingly never flapping their wings. On the other end of the spectrum are the petrels which are like little compact fighter jets that zip around and jet through the waves, flapping their wings to give them super speed like they are using an afterburner.

Finally on this special transition to 2011, I will speak to the things that I hopefully won’t see. This includes the whales (of which I have only seen one since leaving Cape Town) and the icebergs which harbor so much of our world’s ecosystem in their frigid existence.

The primary message that I will try to convey to this watery world as we enter 2011 is an apology. I’d like to be an “eyes wide open” witness to the impact our human existence has on this place. Maybe I am a lone ambassador of sorts? As I write this I am sailing in 9 degree Celsius water in a place that should have far cooler water temperature. I am sailing deliberately further north than ever before because the Antarctic convergence (ice zone) is hundreds of miles further north than when I first sailed the Southern Ocean in 1998. The birds are far less in numbers than I have ever experienced, and the whales… well, we all know that story. My message will be a hollow New Year’s apology because I need to be honest with my friends down here. There is really nothing being done that will change the tide of globalization and human growth. We can hope that the pioneers of sustainability and green energy will be rewarded for tangible results. We can hope that rather than a typical New Year’s resolution that is a lot of promise and little movement, that maybe the human population of our fragile home will put some action behind the rhetoric.

I don’t pretend to know how much we affect this place through our actions and I am a firm believer that cyclic global temperatures are a natural weather occurrence, so I don’t wish to be tied up in the politics of it all. I just speak of plane facts that we know we can change. The whales are gone because we kill them for food and resources we no longer need. The bird population is off because we kill them with bad fishing practices and by throwing trash in the water that they eat. This planet is 70% covered in water. The life and delicate balance that water provides is the brine from which all known life came. Can you imagine if that balance is upset? Water can take the life away just as easily, and in a much shorter time, than it was given. The oceans provide every ounce of water we drink. If the ice caps were to melt (which they are) the vast majority of the world’s cities will become submerged. The sun and water are the two things that make every weather anomaly occur.

For crying out loud, the human body is something like 80% water isn’t it? We better start taking care of our oceans or they aren’t going to be here to take care of us.

This will be the somber but special New Year’s message I will share with my friends in the Southern Ocean. It will be a very “glass is half full” conclusion, basically stating that mankind is good and wants to continue to exist, and that we will do as a race what we have to do to survive.

Happy New Year’s and may you all take a few minutes to enjoy the beauty of the natural world in 2011.

Cheers,
Brad

Derek Hatfield gives an update on his southern ocean holiday. 

“The Southern Ocean is full of extremes and the last twenty four hours proves it in spades. For the past day, all three of us at the front have been heading SE on strong winds with gusts to 30 kts. Boat speeds have been in the high teens and it has been a neck and neck drag race. About two hours ago I experienced one of the most dramatic transitions in my sailing career. The cloud cover was very low and it was raining; within
2 minutes the wind went from 28 kts to 10 kts and changed directions by 45 degrees. Leaving Active House wallowing in the huge waves undercanvassed. The wind has backed now by a permantent 45 degrees and within an hour the sun had come out. Such exteame weather changes are both humbling and awe inspiring.

Here’s to another year past that hopefully was a good one for each of you. And for 2011, I hope that all of your goals and aspirations come true. Happy New Year to you and your families and friends from Active House and the Spirit of Canada team.

Take Care. Be safe.

Derek

Chris Stanmore-Major reflects on his holiday.

I was throwing a reef in this morning and I suddenly realised that I was doing it right.  I was moving efficiently; things were happening in their proper order and the whole procedure seemed quite tranquil and, dare I say it, professional compared to the frenetic machinations that have normally occurred when I have stepped up to reef in worsening weather previously.  This morning despite 30kts coming on really quite quickly I felt on top of the situation and sure of what I was doing. Even when a reef line became tangled on its self and I had to crawl out to the end of the boom to free it. No problem I thought – I know where I’m going, how to get there and what I have to do once there to remedy the situation. It was exciting but wonderfully uneventful. It was a curious thing to stand there at the mast once it was all done – with the reef in, the boat back on course and all the little problems dealt with swiftly and reflect on the contrast between this and my first reefing experiences in the North Atlantic in October.

I remember I was nervous as hell and felt out of my depth in those early days, ventured forward to the mast each time I had to reef. The boat invariably was headed far too far up wind and she would be bucking and crashing through the waves like a submarine.  With the main still not out far enough she would be sailing on her ear with the lee decks underwater and precious little it seemed for me to hold onto save the winch handle and the sail.  The wind would be howling and the sail totally uninterested in what I wanted it to do. The noise of that huge spectra sail flogging its self silly, the angle of the decks and the knowledge that it was just me in charge of this asylum was enough to make me want to curl up and die. In response I would bellow at myself as I used to do to crew in heavy weather, issuing instructions (to myself), providing a supporting narrative (for myself) and pushing myself to keep going whatever went wrong (and a lot used to go wrong).  I guess in the midst of shouting I was distracted enough not to notice how scared I was. This is not a new technique, I know – I have seen it in use on many boats over the years. This was just my turn and as there was no one to insult but myself, it worked.

I’m not sure exactly when all my dues were paid and I suddenly became a competent Open 60 mast man- probably over Christmas sometime where there was a lot of reef in, reef out action and in the bitter cold I had to stay focused on the task lest it take ages – leaving me cold and wet again. I have adapted things at the mast now to make things easier for myself – I have put marks on everything to provide references and developed a procedure in my head I must follow religiously but as this has happened I  have also adapted continually to the job adjusting my technique in response to the cues given by the boat and making light of the attendant trouble.  Not enough halyard tension? Tonight Chris you’re going away with a broken mast track! Not enough reefline on? My friend you win a chafed reefline! And little by little through perseverance to the task of learning how to reef, not just reefing but standing back and learning how to reef  I have come to a point where I can tick a box in my mind and say,’ yes I can do that’ and move on to something else.

Is it funny for me to be halfway across the Southern Ocean in a solo Open 60 race and admit I have only just mastered something as basic as good reefing practice on the very boat I am trusting my life to? Maybe but bear in mind I am talking about learning ‘best practice’ here not just jogging along problem solving everything as I go.  The only way to really be at home here and fast is for everything to become second nature and slick, not cobbled together and guessed at which is what gets
impossible dreams off the ground but doesn’t win races.

I think we all have these gaps in our knowledge that we step around each day thinking, ‘I must brush up on that one day’. Words we skip in reading as after however many years we still don’t really know what it means, parts of our work that remain mysterious and unknown and in leaving these stones unturned we do ourselves a disservice as I think we can never reach our full potential if we do not continue to adapt ourselves to life’s challenges by constant learning and review.   I hope to forever remain a student constantly looking to improve my understanding both of sailing and the wider world as the joy of finally, by George! Getting it- whatever ‘it’ may be is a pleasure that just doesn’t age.

What is next?  Well, next learning task will be good gybing – you would believe how  cringe worthy that can be when it all goes wrong in 30kts – ah the fun I’ve had, boat on its side and going backwards. Also this evening I have a new question to ponder- why do I know so much about ‘My Fair Lady’?

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 American ocean racer Brad Van Liew today sailed into Cape Town  to claim victory in the first ocean sprint of the VELUX 5 OCEANS. The 42-year-old from Charleston, South Carolina, blasted across the finish line in Table Bay at 5.51pm local time (3.51pm UTC).

 

 

 

 

 

  While American Brad Van Liew has been revelling in his victory in the first ocean sprint of the

VELUX 5 OCEANS, the rest of the fleet have been making frustratingly slow progress towards Cape Town. Light airs have dogged Zbigniew ‘Gutek’ Gutkowski, Derek Hatfield and Chris Stanmore-Major as they battle their way to the finish line of the 7,400 nautical mile leg whichstarted in La Rochelle on October 17.

Frustration has swept through the fleet, now tantalisingly close to Cape Town. At the last position report at midday UTC second placed Gutek and his Eco 60 yacht
Operon Racing were just 560 nautical miles from the line but in the previous 24 hours covered just 121 nautical miles.

“Right now I have no wind,” the 36-year-old Pole said. “I am sailing very, very slowly.

During the last three days I made less distance than I would normally in 24 hours. The longer I sail the slower I go. I keep looking back for the boys, but I don’t think they will catch me because they won’t have any good wind either.”

He is right – Canadian Derek Hatfield was today experiencing equally frustrating conditions on Active House
Statistics from 12pm UTC position report:

Skipper; distance to finish (nm); distance covered in last 24 hours (nm); average speed in last

24 hours (kts)
Brad Van Liew: finished Nov 14, 28 days, 1 hour, 51 mins

Gutek: 562.3; 523.6; 121.8; 5.1

Derek Hatfield: 1,067.1; 207.2; 8.6

 

 

 

 

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TWO sailors will no longer be racing in the VELUX 5 OCEANS. French skipper Charles Hedrich and British ocean racer Simon Chalk have not fulfilled their obligations to the VELUX 5 OCEANS race management and as a result will not make the start line of the 30,000-mile singlehanded round the world race.
Both sailors did not respect a number of rules laid down by the race management regarding the process of qualifying for the race, known as The Ultimate Solo Challenge. The race management team has therefore been forced to refuse their entries to the race, which starts in La Rochelle, France, on October 17.
Both skippers failed to arrive in La Rochelle by September 26, the cut-off date laid out in the race rules. Ocean rower Chalk, 37, had set out on a qualification passage from Plymouth, UK, earlier this month but returned after several days due to the imminent birth of his second child. He applied to race management for an extension, which was granted, but he has since been unable to resume the passage and subsequently did not arrive in La Rochelle by the cut-off point.
French adventurer Hedrich, 52, announced his participation in the race at a press conference in Paris in July but has not taken the necessary steps to ensure his participation. His yacht Respectons La Terre, famous in the sailing world as La Cigare Rouge, has remained untouched for several months.

Four other VELUX 5 OCEANS racers, Chris Stanmore-Major from Britain, Christophe Bullens from Belgium, Australia’s Garry Golding and Polish sailor Zbigniew ‘Gutek’ Gutkowski, will all arrive in La Rochelle by the end of the week, joining Brad Van Liew (USA) and Derek Hatfield (CAN) who arrived over the weekend. Due to extenuating circumstances the skippers applied to the race team for special dispensation to arrive late, which was granted.

VELUX 5 OCEANS race director David Adams said: “The key priority for the VELUX 5 OCEANS race management is safety. Charles and Simon failed to prove to the race management that they and their yachts are up to the challenge of sailing solo through some of the world’s most hostile environments. Both skippers failed to comply with a number of the rules set out by the race management, leaving us with no choice but to refuse their entries. Our decision does not change in any way our commitment to the rest of the VELUX 5 OCEANS fleet and the race looks set to be a fantastic event for all stakeholders.”
“If it was easy, everyone would do it,” added American ocean racer Brad Van Liew, who has now qualified for his third VELUX 5 OCEANS. “I don’t think anyone expected it to be this difficult to reach the starting line, and the economic times have definitely contributed to the difficulty of getting here, but here we are and there are plenty of competitive entries to make it a great race.”
The decision by race management means the VELUX 5 OCEANS will now go ahead with six international skippers. Throughout the nine months of the race these sailors will be backed by an unparalleled structure of support. More than €1.3 million is being invested in accommodation, logistics and onboard communication ensured by title sponsor VELUX Group and other race partners. The skippers will also compete for a prize fund of €500,000, the largest prize in solo ocean racing.

Each team will be given €3,500 per stopover to assist with accommodation costs. Danish shipping line Maersk Line is providing complimentary marine transportation services to skippers, shipping 18 containers around the world. Furthermore, each yacht will carry a cutting edge communications package including a system of high-tech onboard cameras and powerful SAILOR 250 FleetBroadband satellite broadband connection. Skippers will also be provided with M-Link Voyager video editing and compressing software, as well as a broadband airtime package to facilitate daily multimedia content and the latest weather information.
Through the support of VELUX, the race is investing in excess of €2.6 million to promote the event around the world, communicating across all channels in three languages (English, French and Polish), and engaging some of the leading providers of content for television, photography, press relations and digital applications. With the race village set to open in La Rochelle on October 9, the event will be a fantastic celebration of solo ocean racing.
The VELUX 5 OCEANS, run by Clipper Ventures PLC, is the longest running solo round the world race, and has 28 years of rich heritage as the BOC Challenge and then the Around Alone. This edition features five ocean sprints over nine months. After heading from La Rochelle to Cape Town, the race will then take in Wellington in New Zealand, Salvador in Brazil and Charleston in the US before returning back across the Atlantic to France. The VELUX 5 OCEANS will start at 4pm on October 17 from La Rochelle.

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 Brad Van Liew arrived in La Rochelle, France today, having sailing Le Pingouin more than 4,000 miles to mark his qualifying sail to compete in the upcoming solo race around the world. A small crew accompanied Van Liew on the transatlantic voyage from Charleston, South Carolina to France, a perk allowed by VELUX 5 OCEANS race officials based on Van Liew’s two previous solo circumnavigation races. This offered Van Liew the chance to utilize a team to test equipment, document areas to improve, and put the brand new sails, rigging, lines and electronics to the test under various extreme conditions.
                                                                                                                                               
“The boat is a really fast machine and has been prepared immaculately by our small team in Charleston,” Van Liew said. “The Atlantic put us through the paces, with every condition I would want to encounter before starting the race. Thanks to the enthusiasm and hard work of many friends, I will be at the start line on October 17th.”
 
Life aboard an Open-60 race boat is less than comfortable for one, so with four aboard, things got quite interesting. Reducing weight aboard the boat is a major priority for Van Liew, if not an obsession. This translates into Le Pingouin’s stark interior space measuring the size of small walk-in closet. One pipe berth tucks up against each side of the hull’s interior for the fits of sleep allowed, while accommodations like a sink, toilet, and galley are absent. The nerve center of the interior is the navigation station, where Van Liew downloads various weather analytics with his B&G electronics, monitors radar and other alarms, and communicates via his Inmarsat satellite system.
 
“Re-entry into the lifestyle of extreme ocean racing has been a trip,” said Van Liew. “I imagine it would be somewhat like when an astronaut goes on another mission into space. You eat, sleep, dream, work, and live in a totally different realm. For me it takes a few days for my body to adjust, but then it is like a machine, focused on two main goals – performance and safety.”
 
Van Liew has competed in this epic solo race twice before aboard 50-foot race boats, taking third place as an underdog entry in 1999 and winning first place in his class in 2003 with a convincing cumulative lead of 21 days. This will be Van Liew’s first entry in the race aboard a 60-foot boat. With the start looming a mere month away, Van Liew feels prepared and enthusiastic for the challenge ahead.
 
Following today’s arrival, Van Liew and his shore based crew will attend to repairs, make adjustments to systems they have tested offshore, conduct final sail testing, and continue the search for supporting sponsors. Although Van Liew has attained support from industry leaders such as Samson, B&G, Simrad, Gill, and West Marine, finding a Title Sponsor to name the race boat and enjoy the lion’s share of branding space has eluded the team. Ondeck joined the effort recently as the first Associate Sponsor, and the team is actively pursuing additional companies that would like to benefit from the vast media exposure and hospitality opportunities that exist for the 9-months of racing.
           
The Velux 5 Oceans starts from La Rochelle in France on October 17, 2010 and features five ocean sprints. After heading from La Rochelle, France to Cape Town, South Africa, the race heads across the vast Southern Indian Ocean to Wellington, New Zealand.  From there, the racing yachts will head to Salvador, Brazil, then up the Atlantic to Charleston, USA before returning across the ocean to France to the finish.

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American Sailor to Depart Charleston, South Carolina for the Start of the VELUX 5 OCEANS 2010-11 Race in France 

What: 
U.S. sailor Brad Van Liew to depart Charleston aboard high tech racing yacht for upcoming international competition
3,500 miles stands between Van Liew and the official start line of the race in La Rochelle, France
Qualifying sail will serve as last chance to test electronics, sails, communication systems, and hardware before Van Liew begins his 30,000 mile journey alone around the planet
Who:
Brad Van Liew, the sole U.S. entry in the upcoming VELUX 5 OCEANS 2010-11 race
Crew aboard the race boat for the sail across the Atlantic include: JC Caso (La Rochelle, France), Brendan Fitzgerald (Mt. Pleasant, SC) and Tim Eble (Mt. Pleasant, SC)
Van Liew’s shore support, family, friends, local supporters and sponsors will be present
When:            
Monday, September 6, 2010
11:00am estimated departure from dock
11:00am-1:00pm outgoing sail from Ravenel Bridge to the jetties
Check for any changes and/or updates on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TeamLazarus

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