British team Conrad Humphreys and team mate Ryan Crawford look healthy but worn after five days of racing when we meet them in Sandhamn of the finish of leg 2, day 5 in the Archipelago Raid. They are just mending their jib halyard that broke earlier today. Not the only thing that broke. Two dagger boards went in two pieces when they hit a rock. Fixing the damages is not their main mission, though. Humphreys explain why they are in this race: “In a nutshell – it is about engaging people in our natural environment, using sports”, he says. Many people today are not aware of what the nature can offer them or how to treat it. The reason for the Blue project to take interest and promote the Archipelago Raid is because it is an environmental friendly and sustainable race. The best example of that is that each team sail without using power, just sails. Each team bring onboard just what they need for five days of racing, food, spares and tents to sleep in. “- We are not allowed to get outside assistance so we have to be happy with what we got – and we are”, says Conrad. Conrad Humphreys is a professional sailor that used to sail full time, one of the youngest persons to have competed in the Whitbread at age 19. Nowadays he is heavily involved in promoting the Blue project through different sports events. Conrad continues “- In a planet where we have limited resources, the Archipelago Raid is like a micro cosmos of that and that is what the Blue Project tries to promote. To try and get people to understand to be content with what they have got”. For more information about the Blue Project visit www.blueproject.org
21.08.09 – Day 5 of the Archipelago Raid
08:21:10 hrs
The teams gave the best of themselves in a very intense start of leg 7 this morning off Norra Stavsudda. A southerly 10 knots breeze helped the show. It was clear that the overall leaders wanted to start strong with just two days to go. Citus did the best start in the right side of the line, while in the pin side it was the German team W4 who got the best spot.
Thule passed in front of the bow of half the fleet right over the line. The wind picked up slowly afterwards to some 16 knots. Citus held their lead in the three first checkpoints, but followed very closely by Thule. The Swedish are far from giving up!
So far 2 teams have retired from the leg due to different problems and are sailing straight to the finish in Grinda. They are Ursuit and SWE 49.
10:49:44 hrs
Swedish Team Thule Strandberg/Örtendahl is increasing their lead doing 18 knots of boat speed in the strong southerly breeze. The wind has picked up since the start this morning and is averaging on 20 knots. Some boats have capsized due to the fairly rough conditions. Among them Team Audi Lewander/Thorslund and Team Blue Humphreys/Crawford that spent some time recuperating afterwards but then came back in the race. Team Mc Donald Huysman and team w4 also went on the nose. The fleet is now reduced with another two boats and 21 boats are now in the race. Conditions are again fantastic, good breeze, sunny and clear – what else could you ask for?
Downwind start at 05:10 in the morning in good windspeed and the F18 flying over the waves: that’s the raid. Team Blue made the best start off Ekerö on the right side of the line near the Comitee boat, closely followed by Audi and Garmin. Audio Network and the Nieminen Brothers onboard Ursuit made it right with good speed. Further right Swe 43 reached tremendous speed. While most of the fleet was flying in 20 knots, the Finnish-Kiwi boat Bohica was unfortunately dismasted in the middle of the course, but managed to get back on track. A few minutes later Audi capzized and lost the gains they made on the start.
At the first 3 minutes Check Point on Degersand beach Garmin took the lead, followed by Thule, Audio Network, Blue Marine and Swe 43. The 3 minutes checkpoint is nerve breaking for the sailors who have to stop for only 180 seconds before running back to their catamarans.
The start of leg 2 went underway at 08.45 this morning. The fleet has started their crossing of Ålands Sea towards Ekerö from head quarter 1 at Arsläjan on Arholma. With a westerly breeze of 4 knots the teams got a light wind start. The wind will turn east during the day and therefore the fleet is headed directly towards Ekerö to sail the northerly route around Åland island towards Finland. A happy crew on board Team Audio Network British Sunnucks/Farren won leg 1. An interview with team Audio Network can be found under Audio. Last team to arrive to Arsläjan was Team Piano at 02.20 am, literally living up to their name. The race management let the teams get some sleep and delayed the start until 08.45 this morning, due to that the last team came in early this morning. The teams had to be towed from checkpoint 5 to head quarter Arsläjan due to no wind after 22.00. Rudder problems were reported from the Italian team yesterday but nothing they couldn’t fix. Severe damage came upon Team FG Porsche while they hit a rock in the night. The dagger board opened the hull with the result of a lot of water filling the hull. While they were towed in the night they almost sank and they realized early this morning at Arsläjan that the damage was too big to repair without professional help. Team FG Porsche has therefore decided to withdraw from the competition. Still 25 teams in the race – stay tuned!
After a day of racing, Conrad Humphreys and Ryan Crawford onboard Team Blue are in 12th place on the results table.
14.08.09 The deadline for teams arrival into Stockholm was today with the quiet island of Lindingo bustling with F18 sailors rigging boats and making final preparations. In every corner of the boat part, there was the familiar sounds of drilling and sanding as the normal race specked F18′s are beefed up for 5 days of hard sailing in the Archipelago.
There’s a great atmosphere between the sailors that come from all over Europe to race in this great adventure. A quick glance down the entry list and you will see sailors from Sweden, UK, Finland, Switzerland, France, Italy, Belgium, Norway, New Zealand, USA.
Weather looks wet again for tomorrow and Sunday with a low forming over Sweden, which could bring some gusty conditions for Sunday. Tomorrow Conrad and Ryan plan to get a few hours sailing in the afternoon as the boats feel heavy and slow at the start so it will be good to get on the water for a shake down.
10.07.09 Conrad Humphreys and Ryan Crawford have been training throughout 2009 with one goal in mind, to secure a podium finish in Europe’s premier adventure sailing raid – The Archipelago Raid. The Scandinavian Islands are the unique arena of the competition. Rocks and islands everywhere, the archipelago is one of the most difficult areas for navigation and the event attracts some of the world’s greatest sailors drawn to the challenge of competing in the 5 days endurance race. The concept is simple. Each team sails intensely day and night on a Formula 18 (5,5 m catamaran), along a unique course drawn among 100,000 rocks and islands. On the way, the competitors have to find 20-25 checkpoints located on islands (pontoons, beaches, boats, lighthouses) as described in the “Archipelago Raid Book” (latitude, longitude). The teams are free to choose their route between two checkpoints.
To follow Conrad’s daily updates and navigation track over the 5 day event, he has recently launched his new look website (www.conradhumphreys.com) where he will be posting daily tweets, blogs and YouTube videos online. The website also features a close look back over 15 years of remarkable sailing events from the earliest Whitbread Round the World Race onboard the Russian crewed Odessa through to winning the BT Global Challenge in 2001, the epic Vendee Globe in 2004/5 and more recently his multihull sailing with the Extreme 40 and the F18.
Over the last few years, Conrad and his team have been working on a series of major events and projects focused on both Sport and the Environment. In 2008, they led the Host City bid for The Artemis Transat and successfully coordinated one of the city of Plymouth’s most prestigious sailing events. On the 24th July 2009, in partnership with the South West England 2012 team and Plymouth City Council and as part of the Olympic Celebrations to mark the three years towards the London 2012 Games, they will be launching a major new event designed to engage more people actively with our “Blue” Environment.
The first big F18 event of the year took place at Carnac over the bank holiday weekend and this year saw over 140 F18′s and many of the world’s top sailors take part.
It has been over ten years or more since I raced in a fleet of this size and we were here to work on boat handling and speed to ensure that we were on the pace come this summer’s Archipelago Raid.
It still surprises me, that the 12 year old design of the Hobie Tiger is still such a competitive design amongst a fleet comprising two brand new designs. This event was the first outing for the much hyped Hobie WildCat and also the new Loday-White Shockwave. Neither boat’s have had much time on the water, but with the star studded team’s sponsored by Hobie, including world and Olympic sailor, Darren Bundock it was tantalising to see the new designs in action for the first time.
First race and we were inside the top ten at the windward mark – unbelievable after a poor start. No problem with our pace up wind. The downwind leg saw a number of team’s pass us by, it was just a case of not pushing hard enough but as the confidence grew we started holding our own here as well. We finished 14 in the first race, our best result of the weekend and an opportunity to see that we had good overall speed.
On Saturday, the 300 strong fleet took part in the 30mile offshore race and after a light upwind start we had a 7 mile reaching leg. Tactically the fleet held high and we managed to soak off down this long reaching leg which paid massively as the tide was racing around the Quiberon Penisula. Gybing through the islands was just breath taking with a large swell running and lots of rocks scattered around it felt a bit like the Archipelago. After around 50 gybes, we were around the back of the island and back on the wind for a long fetch home. We were in good company with Andrew Macpherson and Mitch Booth close by. We crossed the line with less than twenty ahead of us, which was fantastic. It was a good chance to see that our tactics were good and so was our speed.
Overall, the weekend was superb, and really impressive to see Carnac with such an active race scene for Catamarans. The event management was superb with over 200 volunteers involved in making the event happen and with the onshore activities, there was certainly a buzz for the whole town. Well done Carnac Yacht Club for a great event.
22:04:09 Conrad Humphreys and fellow round the world sailors join Sir Robin Knox-Johnston to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of his circumnavigation in the Sunday Times Golden Globe.
On April 22 1969, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston made history as the first man to sail singlehanded and non-stop around the world. At 15:25 hrs forty years ago Sir Robin crossed the finish line at Falmouth to finish the Sunday Times Golden Globe yacht race after 312 days alone at sea. He was the only competitor to complete the race and to this day remains the only British sailor to win a singlehanded round the world race.
April 22 2009 saw the pioneering skipper mark the 40-year anniversary of this incredible accomplishment in central London. Having once again sailed alone around the planet only two years ago at the age of 68 in the VELUX 5 OCEANS, Sir Robin brought his original boat from 1969, Suhaili, up to Tower Bridge.
Sir Robin is the Chairman of Clipper Ventures Plc, the marine events company he established in 1995 and which now operates the VELUX 5 OCEANS as well as the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
He was joined in St Katharine Docks by Hull & Humber, one of the ten identical internationally-sponsored 68-foot racing yachts which will compete in the next Clipper Race, the only global event for non-professional sailors. Onboard he was welcomed by eight of the 18 British sailors who have successfully circumnavigated the planet alone, including female skipper Dee Caffari and Dorset hero Steve White, both of whom recently finished the infamous Vendée Globe race.
Speaking from Hull & Humber, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston said, “I am delighted to mark the anniversary of my victory in the Golden Globe. Forty years ago nobody knew whether sailing alone around the world was even possible – but it was a time of change and adventure, as man landed on the moon and we extended the frontiers of possibility. Of the nine starters in that inaugural race, I was the only one to cross the finish line. Completing the race onboard Suhaili was an important moment in pushing the boundaries of our sport. So much has changed since then, in terms of the size and speed of the boats, as well as the technology. However, the harsh realities and dangers of the challenge of sailing non-stop solo around the world remain the same.
“I am proud to have achieved this historic first. I am also pleased to be joined by so many of the British sailors who have followed in my footsteps. Although I am the last British skipper to win such a race around the world, there is such a huge pool of British offshore sailing talent. Having broken new ground in 1969, I am pleased not only to support the future professional sailing today via the VELUX 5 OCEANS race, but equally to encourage people from all walks of life to fulfill their dreams of racing across oceans by taking part in the Clipper Race.”
Sir Robin was joined by friends and guests from the sailing world for a curry lunch in central London where his achievement was toasted with a dram of Benromach Speyside Single Malt Whisky which was distilled in 1969. Only 40 numbered bottles of the special commemorative bottling have been produced and David Urquhart, Joint Managing Director of Gordon & MacPhail, owner of the Benromach distillery, was on hand to present bottle number one to Sir Robin, a global ambassador for Benromach.
Sir Robin was also joined by BBC News presenter, Chris Eakin, who has recently published A Race Too Far, a book detailing the incredible story of the Golden Globe. Inspired to tell the story of the race after meeting Sir Robin, Chris has interviewed families, friends and competitors in order to uncover the inspiring and devastating tales.
Speaking from St Katharine Docks in London Conrad said “This is a fantastic honour to be joining Sir Robin and the other British solo round the world sailors to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of his completion of this historical circumnavigation. Sir Robin is the grandfather of ocean racing and laid the foundations of a challenge for all of us to follow.”
Conrad has sailed around the world three times, he sailed solo around the world in the 2004-05 edition of the Vendée Globe Race.
10.07.09 Conrad Humphreys and Ryan Crawford have been training throughout 2009 with one goal in mind, to secure a podium finish in Europe’s premier adventure sailing raid – The Archipelago Raid. The Scandinavian Islands are the unique arena of the competition. Rocks and islands everywhere, the archipelago is one of the most difficult areas for navigation and the event attracts some of the world’s greatest sailors drawn to the challenge of competing in the 5 days endurance race. The concept is simple. Each team sails intensely day and night on a Formula 18 (5,5 m catamaran), along a unique course drawn among 100,000 rocks and islands. On the way, the competitors have to find 20-25 checkpoints located on islands (pontoons, beaches, boats, lighthouses) as described in the “Archipelago Raid Book” (latitude, longitude). The teams are free to choose their route between two checkpoints.
