Archiv der Kategorie: Lobster One

Nachdem das Wetter bislang gnädig war und dem Sonnenbrand etwas Kühlung verschaffte, gab es jetzt den ersten Klaps vom Wetter. Hannah schreibt am Tag 3:

When so much has happened in the last two weeks, it is hard to keep track of time, all we do know is that it seems like a long time ago when we slipped lines in the rain at Marina Bas-du-Fort to set off across the Atlantic. Having been treated to some relatively nice upwind conditions and having avoided all bar a few big ugly squalls, it was only a matter of time before we got swallowed up by one of those infamous tropical cloud masses. It was about 5pm and we had just done our teeth and got some warmer kit on for the night when a large grey towering cumulous appeared to windward. The radar informed us it was 12 miles away and we started to place bets on whether this would provide us with a nice refreshing shower. We waited, it crept up on us slowly. To our port side was a beautiful pink and orange sunset, out to starboard a grey/green/brown beast. There was only a minor increase in wind as the leading egde crawled over us - we filled the ballast tanks just as a precaution, then came a 40 degree (quite appropriate) wind shift - we prepped for the 1st reef. Still nothing but eerie silence and a few spot of rain, no white horses on the water and then bang 10 knots became 26, spots of rain became torrential and we were off. Reef 1 went in with lightening speed as Anna worked the winches whilst I relieved the autohelm and drove the boat closer to he breeze. It wasn't just 1 squall though but about 5 rolled into 1. We went through about 5 hours of nasty sea state, shifty wind and manic rain but when we got through it all was good, we passed the test.

In other news, Anna's missing beanie - the cause of much distress has been found and aside from picking millions of flying fish off the deck, this morning we had to pick fish eyes up too!!

So we leave you as we get ready to play with the Gennaker. The wind has died right down and the boat speed is a bit pitiful, time to get to work for us.

POS @ 1200 UTC 18/03/11: 22 01N 059 31W

Hannah & Anna

Foto von der Freude über das Ende des Winters: Anna & Hannah

Am Tag 2 des Qualifikationsschlages (17. März) haben sich die Mädels auf dem Weg von Guadeloupe nach Horta offenbar für Lobster als Hautfarbe entschieden. Passend zum Namen dieses Blogs, der ebenfalls einem Sonnebrand zu verdanken ist. Hier der Bericht im O-Ton:

I am sure this will make you all pleased to know that it is starting to feel a little chilly. What a difference a day makes! Yesterday we were both a little caught out by the intensity of the sun and made the fatal mistake of wearing old sun tan lotion. Anna now has the back and thighs of a freshly boiled lobster and randomly my knees are like a couple of shining red beacons. Sadly we no longer look like ladies! Broken finger nails and knotted hair mixed with the faint aroma of wet deck trainer best describes our current appearence but it has not dappened our smiles, this is fun (honestly).

Our first 24 hours were pretty slow, partially as we held back whilst getting used to the boat and partially due to some fairly unstable breeze. Last night however we were almost hitting our polars and spent the whole night under full main and solent playing with a combination of ballast as the squalls passed us by. We have found a good rhythm and are working well as a team. The food situation has improved since the disaster that was corned beef (possibly cat food) and instant mash on the first night and we are now living a students dream by consuming copious amounts of instant noodles.

Finally the wind has veered a little and we are able to add some east into our generally northerly direction. Yesterdays grib file showed that we would be beating for another 5 days which doesn't fill us with great joy but we just have to get used to life at an angle with an occaisional slam. We are both very much looking forward to the opportunity to bear away. So things are still going well. Any issues we have been confronted with so far we have fixed/dealt with and the wind has remained fairly consistent at 10-12 knots since we passed through a line of squalls in the early hours of this morning. The only hurdle to overcome now is how to dry out our damp derriers!!!

POS @ 1200 UTC 19 51N 060 29W

Hannah & Anna

Foto: Anna-Maria, Hanna und der Selbstauslöser

Seit gestern sind Anna-Maria Renken und Hanna Jenner mit der 40 DEGREES auf dem Weg über den Atlantik zu den Azoren, um sich für das Global Ocean Race zu qualifizieren. Da es keine Bilder von der Abreise zu geben scheint, können wir hier stellvertretend nochmal ein Video von Boris und Felix auf der BELUGA RACER beim Training genießen. Hölle, sind die Kisten schnell!

Im Dezember stand das Team für die Global Ocean Race-Kampagne (Lobster One vom 20. Dezember 2010: Powersurf im HPX-Petticoat), morgen stechen Anna-Maria Renken und Hannah Jenner mit ihrer Class 40 "40 DEGREES" von Guadeloupe aus gen Horta in See.

Zwischen damals und heute standen für die Round-the-World-Mädels unzählige Stunden von Sponsorenaquise, Finanzierungsplänen, Bootssuche, Gesprächen und Reisen an, um das Projekt auf die Beine zu stellen, teilweise neben dem Job. Um so beeindruckender ist es, dass in so kurzer Zeit alles am Start ist. Bei diesem Durchsetzungswillen dürfte sich die Konkurrenz beim GOR warm anziehen müssen, sobald die Girlpower vom Schreibtisch, Telefon und Konferenzraum an die Schot verlagert wird.

Die Anreise der beiden nach Guadeloupe glich wohl eher einer Auswanderung, der Gepäckstapel war höher als die beiden selbst. 120 kg Taschen inklusive einem Segel waren für die Abfertiger am London City Airport wohl recht angsteinflößend. Der Sack mit dem Gennaker wurde als Bedrohung für Leib und Leben des gemeinen Gepäckträgers deklariert, sollte er 26 kg überschreiten, was Anna damit parierte, dass sie den Segelsack mit trotzigem Blick und einem "If I can lift the bloody thing, then so can you!" auf den Tresen schwang.

Szenenwechsel. Karibik, Boot übernommen, ab aufs Wasser. Anna resumiert nach dem ersten Probeschlag: "Die Kiste ist der Hammer! Irrsinnig schnell und maximal gut ausgerüstet!! Wir haben heute unseren ersten doublehanded Trip vor Guadeloupe gewagt und sind sehr zufrieden. Rumgerefft, Wasserballast raus rein und hin und her gepumpt und ein paar Vorsegel getestet sowie zwei verdammt gute Parkmanöver gelandet."

Morgen geht es nach Horta (Azoren), grobe ETA zwischen 26. und 28. März. Go GORGirls!

Fotos: Jenner/Renken und der Selbstauslöser