ECOVER due back in the water at the end of May after a major refit including a new carbon keel fin

 

After a whole winter of work which started down in Palma and ended up at the JMV yard in Cherbourg, ECOVER will finally be ready to go back in the water at the end of May. Shortly after launching, the team will be returning to their base in Ocean Village, Southampton, to re-measure the boat with her new keel fin and to prepare for the SNSM which starts on Saturday 21^st June. This 600 mile crewed (5), coastal race will see around 10 Open 60s race from St Nazaire to St Malo and back to St Nazaire again. More news and pics to follow shortly.

Antigua Race Week with the Aggmore Property Group

A brief holiday from ECOVER and along with several of my friends, I flew out to Antigua on the 25^th April to skipper the Farr 65 that Chris Marsden had chartered for race week. Chris is the CEO of the Aggmore Property Group who sponsored me throughout 2006 and he’d invited along many of his friends and business contacts along with a small pro crew to help ensure we got round quickly and safely. Many thanks to that additional crew which unsurprisingly was made up entirely of old friends…. Anyway most of what went on I shouldn’t really publish to the internet……… suffice to say, we all had a great time both on and off the water and there are plans being formulated to go back again next year!

Class 40 swapped for Open 60……

Don’t get carried away, it’s not my Open 60!!! After several hard months fundraising I made the difficult decision not to enter the Artemis Transat. Despite having most of the budget, I couldn’t quite raise the final sum required, so towards the end of March I made the call to look for adventures elsewhere. This appeared in the form of a great offer from Mike Golding. Mike and the ECOVER sailing team are preparing for the Vendee Globe in November 2008 and I began work with the team at the end of March. This will see me gain invaluable experience in preparing an Open 60 for this huge adventure, the next edition of which in 2012, also happens to be my ultimate goal! Along with preparing the boat for the Vendee, I will also sail many miles testing out the highly sophisticated systems onboard and be part of the race team for crewed events. More information can be found at www.mikegolding.com