Ronnie Simpson first Vendee Globe trailer. Edited by Pierson Jacquelin December 2012

2012 Singlehanded Transpac- Moore 24 "Hope for the Warriors" aka US 101 from Ronnie Simpson on Vimeo.

September 7- 48 N 126 W- Land Ho!

We can see Vancouver Island, Canada at the moment and are about 75 miles from Cape Flattery, Washington. Up until last night, we spent about 36 hours with a triple-reefed main and staysail. It blew 20-30 with gusts higher and with the breeze and seas right on the beam, things got pretty rolly and uncomfortable. Champ took good care of us though. Glad we put in that 50 miles of northing the day before, so that we could fall off when it got nasty... Just started motoring a couple of hours ago, and have seen 3 fishing boats this morning. It is absolutely perfectly clear and sunny and beautiful right now. Has been for days. I think the breeze cleared the coastline of fog. The mountains we're seeing are about 56 nm away, just for reference as to how clear it is. This sunshine is a welcome surprise! Still a lot of work to do though, as we have roughly 120 miles of coastal navigation once we reach Cape Flattery. eta into seattle is sunday. sv champ out.

September 5- 49 N 133 W- 350 nm to the Cape

We have about 350 nm to go until we reach Cape Flattery. Right now, the breeze has gone a bit soft and we are reaching along nicely at 5-7 knots. Breeze should build to 30 knots out of the North in the next day or so, so we have put in some extra northing to allow us to slide back down south upon our approach to the cape. We have had AM radio reception the past couple of nights and have enjoyed finally hearing some news! Heather and I are definitely looking forward to getting off the boat. It's been a long trip, so we're both excited to either stop in Neah Bay or Port Angeles on our approach to Seattle. She's craving a salad. Me? Burrito and a beer. All is well, no problems to report. Anticipating landfall sometime on Friday and arriving into Seattle by Sunday AM. sv champ out

September 2- 48 N 144 W- cruising

SV Champ is comfortably cruising for Seattle at the moment, making 5-6 knots under a clear, sunny sky. After the low passed by two days ago and wrecked the sea state, we had to deal with huge seas and light air downwind sailing yesterday. No problem, we'll just bust out the spinnaker... Until the shackle opens as we hoist the sail to the masthead. Re-gathering the sail on deck, we waited for the seas to continue to calm down a bit and I hoisted Heather up to the top of the rig to grab the spin halyard. With halyard retrieved, we carried the kite into the night and didn't switch until the wind shifted around midnight. Now we are broad-reaching with 1 reef in the main and a full jib. Very comfortable and Heather is making pancakes right now. 770 to Juan de Fuca entrance, and about 700 south of prince william sound, alaska. sv champ out

August 28- 46 N 159 W- Whales, dolphins, porpoise and birds

There is an amazing amount of wild life here in the Pacific High at 43 North and higher. Yesterday a large whale came right up next to the boat and swam next to us and then crossed our bow twice. Two other whales have come within 50 feet, breaching a couple of times for us. Large pods of dolphin and porpoise have put on amazing shows for Champ and we've had dozens of small sea birds flying around the boat, chirping. I've never seen this much wild life this far out to sea, it's quite impressive and very beautiful.

Hopefully on our last day of motoring. We should, fingers crossed, finally have breeze from the southwest tomorrow and westerly after that. This Pacific High has been wacky.

Champ out.

Page 4 of 16

who's online

We have one guest and no members online

Back to Top