No racing but plenty of movement!
Yesterday's racing had to be aborted as Team Daft co-skipper Mick Liddy couldn't make it back from a military mission in the south of the country. But preparation for the Round Ireland continues apace, nonetheless
Team Daft Blog
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Official Sponsorship Announcement: Daft.com Backs Team In Round Ireland Yacht Race
Daft Media Group has today announced plans to sponsor a racing boat in this
year's Round Ireland Yacht Race. Daft will be backing blind adventurer Mark
Pollock and Air Corps pilot Mick Liddy, in their bid to make offshore
sailing history as the first double-handed crew, with one blind member, to
compete in the Round Ireland Yacht Race. -
Team Daft on the silver screen
We've been working away on the Team Daft Round Ireland Yacht Race challenge, and as well as ticking the admin boxes, we've had some practical stuff to do too.
Mick has been showing me the ropes, literally, in a 1720. I've found that helming upwind is no problem, there is a gentle tug on the tiller that lets you know when you're hitting the right angles. Downwind, I need more verbal cues as there is less feel on the tiller, so the boat isn't 'telling me' much about what's going on. We're working with technology experts to deal with that problem.
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Team Daft campaign gaining momentum
Things are moving quickly on on two fronts now with the latest adventure - Team Daft's attempt to sail off-shore for up to 6 days non-stop in the Round Ireland Yacht Race.
On the sailing side, we're making progress.
Time on the water has given us an understanding of what navigation information I'll need to sail the boat blind when Mick is down below sleeping. This has and remains a serious challenge as there are no standard solutions for blind sailors racing off-shore. But it looks like we might have found a solution via a software engineer in Dublin who is also an expert in marine technology. I need all of the boat's navigation equipment to speak the information out loud so I can sail the boat alone. We don't have it sorted yet but we're a hell of a lot closer than we were last week!
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Controlling the Controllables
After two days intensive sea survival training, myself and co-skipper Mick
Liddy have completed one of the pre-requisites for the Round Ireland Yacht
Race. We had to do a sea survival course and pass it in order to secure an
entry in the race. And now that we've got the certificates, the real
survival training can begin... -
No room for negativity - it's a complete waste of time!
Over the last few weeks I've been working on marketing plans and pitching
ideas to the sponsor of my next adventure - to compete in an off-shore yacht
race around Ireland. It has been about what we're going to do, what we will
be able to do and it has felt a little bit abstract. But now the time for
talking is over and it is time to start delivering... -
Press Coverage: Team Daft Go Off Shore Yacht Racing
Last Friday, 26th March 2010, the sailing media picked up on our plan to compete in the off-shore yacht race around Ireland...David Branigan in the Irish Times wrote an article titled 'Pollock set to make history' which can be found here. -
Wind & Waves: The New Adventure Is On!
Only a few short weeks ago I had no idea who Mick Liddy was. Now I know him, I've been sailing with him and suddenly I find myself committing to a week-long, non-stop, off-shore sailing race around Ireland with him!
To give him his full title, Capt Mick Liddy, is one of the Air Corps most experienced helicopter pilots. He has worked as a Search and Rescue helicopter pilot, amassing 150 Rescues and Air Ambulance calls, and now trains other pilots to do the same. On the water, Capt Liddy is one of Ireland's most accomplished amateur offshore yachtsmen, he has held two World Sailing Records, won the Double-handed Round Britain and Ireland race in 2006 and won the Maxi World Championships in 2009.