Offshore George finally got to meet the Earthrace mascot ‘Eartha’ last week as they now help the team prepare for the start of the record attempt this Sunday.

Reports say that they are getting along well…

Offshore George is looking forward to the Spanish weather for the start of the Earthrace record attempt.

He’s not overly keen on snow as he found out in Kilimanjaro.  Apparently short legs and deep snow don’t go together well.

Offshore George has now joined some of the Earthrace team in London before flying out to Spain.  He is being very well looked after and will be keeping the Earthrace mascot ‘Eartha’ company during the round the world speed attempt.

The start of the attempt has been delayed whilst EU customs await to release the 100% biodiesel needed to fuel the vessel.

The team are using this opportunity to extend their sea-trials and make sure that the space aged craft is completely ready.

For more information visit: www.earthrace.net

Offshore George has hardly had time to rest after his circumnavigation of the globe, with Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape onboard Hugo Boss in the Barcelona World Race, before he’s off again with Earthrace, who are attempting the round the world speed record for the second time.

The space-age, bio-fuelled, catamaran will be leaving spain at the end of March hoping to complete the journey in under 75 days.

With George’s newfound experience in the southern ocean, they stand the best of chances.

For more information on Earthrace, visit: www.earthrace.net

Offshore George, Alex and Capey arrived back in Barcelona on Thursday morning to take a well earned second place in the Barcelona World Race.

The victorious trio were pleased to be back on dry land and would have certainly slept well that night.  We will be publishing their pictures as soon as we receive them.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Alex for, once again, looking after George and bringing him back in one piece and also to Capey and the whole of ATR for giving George yet another fantastic experience.

It’s been a while since we heard from the boys on the black boat.  Alex, Capey and George have been busy chasing the leader, Pabrec Virbac, and are now only 650 miles behind with 4,000 miles to the finish.

With the boat and crew being pushed to the limit (and Offshore George not being allowed to use the computer due to an unfortunate marmalade incident) we’ve yet to receive any reports this year but we’re following their progress closely from the office and will post any news as soon as we get it.

Hugo Boss has made a pit stop in Wellington, New Zealand for repairs to her rudder.  It entails an obligatory 48 hour wait before rejoining the race as a penalty for using outside assistance.

This, however, gave Offshore George an ideal opportunity to stock up on marmalade sandwiches, have his first good wash in weeks and get a decent nights sleep on dry land.

Alex, Capey and George will be back on action around 0300hrs on Saturday morning and will be chasing hard to catch the race leader, some 800 miles in front.

Image courtesy of Chris Cameron / DPPI / Barcelona World Race

Offshore George is now a record breaking bear after Hugo Boss sailed more than 500 miles in 24 hours.

Alex Thomson reports:

“We just covered 500 miles in 24 hours!” shouted an overjoyed Alex Thomson during today’s video conference. As the Barcelona World Race enters its second quarter with the majority of the fleet in the Southern ocean, Hugo Boss has been putting on a real show for the past 48 hours, culminating with a new world record (monohull, up to 60 foot - subject to WSSRC ratification).

Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape are now about to overtake Veolia Environnement and take third place, while the fleet is slightly compressing up in front. Paprec-Virbac is just 1 mile behind race leader PRB!

Wet, wild, shaky… Surely Alex Thomson will remember this ride for the rest of his life, but his first words were for the designers of his new and amazingly fast “baby”: “I want to thank Pascal Conq, Jean-Marie Finot and all the team, they’ve done a fantastic job!” The French design office can certainly be proud of the achievement, and Alex expressed his gratitude even before giving us an account of this incredible feat.

“This is my first 500 mile day! Of course, for Capey it’s different because he’s already done half a dozen”, said the cheerful Alex explaining that the conditions were “wetter and wetter, with thousands and thousands of litres of water” running on deck. “We helm with an ice hockey helmet for protection, and at night you can’t see the waves.”
A bit like driving a race car with no lights and no windshield on a road laden with pot holes… in the pouring rain! “We have slowed the boat down now to take the pressure off a little”, said Alex this afternoon. “This is about winning a race and not about breaking records. We have a long way to go and we must keep the boat together if we are to be competitive.”

After 2 weeks of light, unpredictable wind Offshore George, Alex and Capey are finally over the equator and heading for the roaring forties.

Currently in forth place there are daily battles between boats due to their tight grouping.  George has been kept busy at the navigation desk, assessing the weather reports and helping to plot the best route.

In his last report, Alex said “Finally we have found the conditions in which Hugo Boss revels, 18+ knots of wind from the beam. We know this because we have just sailed past Delta Dore, both yachts with the same sail configuration but we are sailing 1-1.5 knots quicker, that’s 15+% quicker, which we are well pleased with. 

We have a fast boat in these conditions but we have to be faster in all conditions and we have to hold the boat together as best we can to have a chance of winning this race. Ahead of us the leaders have better winds, and will do for some time, we are just hoping that the high pressure in the south Atlantic will block their route to the southern ocean and allow us an opportunity to show our stuff.”

There’s still a long way to go with many opportunities for the leasership to change so, for the moment, George will be glued to the weather reports trying to find the best way to the next gate.

After a frustrating week of little wind, Alex, Capey and Offshore George are finally into the Atlantic.

Alex said yesterday “The last 24 hours have again been slightly frustrating due to the temperamental light med breeze. We seemed never to aim at the goal, Gibraltar and when we did the boat speed was at a crawling pace. 

Our boat is one of, if not the most powerful boats in the Barcelona World Race; tip top for moderate to fresh winds but alas very sticky in the light to lighter winds that we have experienced in the first couple of days.”

George meanwhile was busy keeping things shipshape and carrying out a safety check on the engine.

Let’s hope for better winds as they head down towards the Canary Islands.