Jonathan Crinion Ocean Racing

27 August 2006 23:59


If you were to drive a car from the Southern tip of Africa through deserts and over mountains to Europe you would expect a crack in your windscreen from a stray rock on a rough road, a flat tire, maybe two, an overheated engine and to run out of water.

You might run out of fuel or break your fan belt and probably some completely obscure part of the car would break and leave you stranded in some small remote village wondering what to do.

It's with heart felt sorrow and frustration that I have to tell you that I'm not going to make it to the start of the Route du Rhum in time. It's taken more than four years of focused effort to design, develop and build the Friends of the Earth yacht and campaign and so many people have helped and given their support.

We are so close, but also so far at this point. No one is to blame and no one single thing is the cause. The fact is, that its just not possible given the repairs and all replacements necessary at this point.

Plus the distance I still need to travel, the organization of the qualifying passage, the stability test, the Class 40 certification and the final race prep and trip to St Malo for scrutineering before setting out across the ocean again. It just can't be physically completed in the time left between now and the start of the race.

The bottom line is that everyone has put in 200% but everything along the way has taken a bit longer than planned and we have simply run out of time.

By the end of this trip I will have sailed over 6500 nautical miles, and just like the car analogy we have had the usual hardships. The boat is now lying in the harbour in Quinta Do Lorde, Maderia, with a damaged rudder, a pilot bracket that must be removed and replaced, a cracked boom spreader, a torn Genoa. The bobstay is gone and the bowsprit furler is bent and damaged and we lost the pin.

I'm awaiting the arrival of a new Solent sail to replace the one lost overboard so I can sail upwind, and some new sheets to replace the broken ones. The hull needs a good scrub (no anti fouling and it seems you don't really need it) the rudders and keel must be painted orange to comply with the rules, the Xantrex electrical panel got wet and fizzled out, so it needs replacing as well, and then there is lubricating all around.

Two mast cars are still missing and on order as are the batten end caps, the ballast tanks leak about a bucket an hour and the inspection windows must be rebuilt. The list goes on an on.

None of it is insurmountable and it's all normal wear and tear for the most part - but it will take a while to get the boat back into safe sailing condition before I head off single handed for the UK, not to mention my cracked rib so I can grind a winch again.

I feel quite shattered by this decision but it's the right and realistic conclusion given the circumstances. I feel a bit lost for the moment but the good news is that the boat has been born and now exists as 'Friends of the Earth' and will continue to have a life.

There are many more races and we are evaluating the possibilities. All the repairs aside, the yacht is very fast and solid and I can't wait to get back on the water.

The plan is to continue the voyage single handed after the repairs are complete and head for Falmouth, UK where I will moor near the Maritime Museum and we will use the opportunity to continue to promote The Big Ask Climate Change Bill.

We need to build as much pressure as possible for the Climate Change Bill to be included in the Queen's speech in November. The Queen's Speech, will include the list of 12-14 parliamentary bills the Government intends to introduce over the next year. As you know, The Big Ask calls on members of the public to ask their local MP to back the Climate Change Bill.

This Bill was drafted by Friends of the Earth and tabled by Michael Meacher MP under Early Day Motion (EDM) 178 which calls for the Bill to be introduced to Parliament. If this Bill became law it will oblige every UK Government to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by three per cent each year to meet its 2050 target.

We will need to ensure that at least 400 MPs in the UK have signed up to the Bill and will publicly back it. Please help us by contacting your Member of Parliament in support of this bill. You can find details and email addresses of your Member of Parliament here:

http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/email_mp/

More as it happens.

All the best,
Jonathan