Oceanracing 2002 - Around Alone

Betreff: A FOND FAREWELL
Absender: "Aroundalone"
Empfänger: redaktion@segel.de
Datum: 02. Jun 2003 15:47

A FOND FAREWELL

With the Around Alone now over the website writer will be able to spend more time with his Number 1 fan - Billy Black photo Well, it's finally all over. The 2002/03 Around Alone has officially come to an end with the arrival of Derek Hatfield on Spirit of Canada. The whole fleet is now safely back in port. Derek arrived in the nick of time. Today, just 24-hours after his arrival, the weather has turned disgusting with wind and rain lashing a now deserted Newport Shipyard. I am alone in the media center watching the water trickle down the window and hearing the wind buffet the building.

With the Around Alone now over the website writer will be able to spend more time with his Number 1 fan - Billy Black photo

The weather reflects my mood. I feel downright gloomy. The terrific Cox media center has been broken down and taken away leaving just a few high-speed lines and a desk. I look around the room and remember the excitement and poignancy of each skippers press conference, and can't help but feel incredibly honored to have played a part in this event. It has been my pleasure and privilege to tell the story of this race and I want to personally thank the skippers for the time, effort and energy they put into sending reports and images from on board. I also want to thank you, the armchair sailors that followed the race and sent letters of encouragement and support to the skippers over the last nine months. The Tiscali website keeps track of the number of reports that have been posted and there have been over 400. The total number of words may well be approaching a half million, but they do not come close to telling the whole story of the race. Words fall short of capturing the emotion, hardship and sheer joy that each skipper underwent as they made their way around the planet. Unless you have been there yourself and can in some way relate to what they went through, it's not easy to understand just how hard it is to sail around the world by yourself. I have been watching the numerous TV shows about Mount Everest now that it's the 50th anniversary of Hillary and Norgay's amazing ascent, and I am struck that more than 10 times more people have stood atop the highest peak on the planet than have sailed around the world single-handed. Approximately 125 people have completed a solo circumnavigation and returned to talk about it. For the last nine months my inbox has become a sounding board for people following the race and I have received literally thousands of emails. There is one that stands out on my mind and it sums up how I feel about the sailors in this race. It's from a man by the name of Ken Harrelsen. "I live near Dallas, Texas," he wrote. "On Saturday morning I was awakened by the sound of a space shuttle exploding at Mach 18 overhead. In an instant, seven modern day Magellans were lost. They died pursuing adventure and scientific knowledge. Right now, everyone around here is pretty torn up over this horrible tragedy. I am looking at the amazing spirit that leads fragile humans to pit themselves against such odds. That makes the loss seem even greater, but it leaves me awestruck at the strength that brought them to that point. It also makes me think of the skippers and crews of the Around Alone. While the speeds are slower, the dangers are still present and I a m deeply honored to be witness to this group of incredible people." Before signing off a few housekeeping notes. This website will reindex active for the foreseeable future so that you will be able to return as often as you want to relive some of the highlights from the past year. The next race is scheduled for 2006 and will be called 5-Oceans rather than Around Alone. The new name has more appeal for corporate sponsors. If you are interested in participating please feel free to contact me directly, or email info@clipper-ventures.com. If you have any ideas on a corporation that might be interested in a partnership with Clipper Venture and underwrite the next event, contact Henry Trotter at Fast Track (henry.trotter@fast-track-events.com). The future of this event will rely heavily on corporate support. This ti me around, without a title sponsor, race organizers estimate that they subsidized each competitor to the tune of around $100,000 dollars. Obviously that can't be repeated and have the company hope to stay in business. So, finally, this has been fun. I hope that you have enjoyed the ride and will keep interested in adventure sailing and the exploits of these extraordinary men and women that set off to sail around the world in sailboats. I believe we need more people pushing the barriers of society in a positive way. They give us a yardstick by which we can measure ourselves and how we live our day to day lives. Many thanks to everyone for making this a great event, especially my colleagues Mary Ambler, Andrew Hawthorn and Kelly Gilkisen. Your friendship over the past year has made this one of the best times of my life. So long folks, and thanks. --- Brian Hancock great.circle@verizon.net Have you read Brian's new book? For more information go to www.1wsv.com/risk.htm