The sailing was fantastic! It really was the most amazing experience! Not only did I get to meet Shirley Robertson and Ellen MacArthur, but when we all got out on the boats we had gusts of up to 25 knots, which meant we could really see what the Extreme 40s could do!
At one point, I was out on Team Origin and I could hardly tell which way was up - we were heeling out on the hull with it riding some 15ft above the water and I was sure that it would tip over, but it didn’t. We just kept going faster and faster and shot between Ellen and Shirley’s boats to win the ‘friendly’ race! Extreme 40s can do up to 40 knots and I reckon we were doing it out on Osborne Bay on Friday afternoon.
Unsurprisingly, the speed freaks aboard Team Origin were the fastest Extreme 40 home in the Round The Island yacht race the following day.
Also on Friday, I was Charlotted! Charlotte Hofton is a columnist for the IW County Press and I didn’t realise she knew about the challenge, but she wrote about it in her column and it was really funny. Click here to see Charlotte’s article.
Last week the challenge was also publicised in the 50th edition of the Carisbrooke Parish News with a photo as well, which was lovely.
Early this week I was also speaking to one of the local motorbike dealers and he asked me to send him some details about the challenge. I did and to my surprise he sent me a cheque the following day. I was both very grateful and extremely surprised by the rapid response!
I am now preparing lots of information about the challenge to put on display at the IW Motor Show, so I will see you all there!
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