A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog post entitled “I’m Fine” in response to some friends who were wondering how I was doing. I wanted to reassure people that I wasn’t hiding and feeling sorry for myself.

But I didn’t hit publish. Maybe I knew that it was a bit of lie to myself.

This week has been hard. Watching the news coming out of La Rochelle, I kept thinking, I should be at that briefing or I should be hauling water jugs down the dock, or I should be… I have been downloading GRIBs all week as well, thinking about this first leg across Biscay and wondering what the discussion on the dock is.

Yup, my head has been in France for the past week as my friends prepare for one of the biggest challenges of their lives. I wish I was there to help them through it. I wish I was there stressing about weather and boat preparations and all the other thousands of concerns you have preparing for a race.

But I’m not there, and you know what? I’m OK with that.

This morning Gabe woke early and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I opted to let Al sleep in a bit and got little G up so we could have some quiet time this morning. In the dark of the morning we played some soft music and thought about what to eat for breakfast. We curled up in the big chair in my office, Gabe with a warm bottle of milk and I with a big mug of coffee, and we quietly flipped through a photography book.

It is these kinds of things that I think about on the boat when things suck. This is the happy place that I go to when things are so uncomfortable, bashing into waves, cold, hungry and wondering why people go to sea.

But the phone beeps and I am notified via twitter that the boats are headed out of the harbour. The contrasting juxtaposition of the two lives couldn’t be more prominent right now. So it is easier to say “I’m fine”, then to explain that my mind is in two continents at once. Focused on the pleasures and pains of both land and sea.

But I would like to say something to all of you.

WATCH THIS RACE. This race is amazing. The people are amazing. The boats are amazing. Watch this race if you enjoy stories of people overcoming great obstacles. Watch this race If you enjoy watching regular Joes doing the incredible. The sailors that are headed out of the harbour this morning have beat the shit out of themselves for at least two years to arrive at this place. There has been so much blood, sweat and tears shed from each and everyone of them to be on that start line.

I know that watching a little dot slowly cross the screen is hardly exciting, but the drama is real. The wind (or lack thereof) is real. The waves are real. The stress of not knowing where you are in the fleet is real. The media will not cover his race. You won’t hear about it on the news. But what these people have accomplished already is amazing, so please, please, please watch this race and send positive vibes to the sailors. It WILL be brutally hard.

OFFICIAL RACE SITE

I didn’t want to jinx anything by writing a post until now, but things are starting to come together so I thought I would risk it…

The Classe Mini’s decision on my miles for the Pornichet Select was quite even handed and fair I think. They have said, that if I finish one more single-handed race, then I will be able to count the miles for both races and thus will have my qualifying miles for the Transat. This means that I will be sailing one extra race in France this time round, the MAP which starts on the 9th is a 220nm race in La mer d’Iroise.

Logistically this has been a bit of a challenge… I arrive in Lorient on the 7th and the MAP starts on the 9th. So I needed to find someone to deliver the boat from Lorient to Douarenez. The good folks at Classe Mini found me a very qualified delivery skipper (merci, merci, merci Sandrine!!!) and the boat should arrive in Douarenez ahead of me. I will sort out some business in Lorient and then high tail it to Douarenez to get through the security inspections, and get the boat ready to race.

Following the MAP, I will then start preparing for the Mini Fastnet which starts on the 18th. This is a big race for me, as it will have the fleet of 150-160(!) minis sailing into the Irish Sea round fastnet rock and back. The weather can be a bit rough up there, and the shipping traffic can be very, very busy. My co-skipper for the event, Samuel Dufou,r has done a bunch of mini sailing, so I will have good company for the race.

I’ve gotta say, the roller coaster of the last month has been tough. One day it looks impossible to get it all done and the next, opportunities arise that make it all seem possible. It’s seems it’s always like that in single-handed sailing…

I’m extremely happy to have this second chance at qualifying, but there are no words to explain how hard it is to leave my little family alone again. This is probably the biggest hardship to overcome for all of this sailing that I am doing.

The next few weeks are going to be crazy, but I will try and keep the updates coming, both on the blog and facebook. Hope you will follow along on this roller coaster of a ride…

People keep asking what my plans are, so I thought i would let everyone know what’s going on… Truth be told, my plans for right now are very up in the air.

Because I missed the time limit on the Pornichet Select, I will not have enough miles to qualify for the Transat. I have sent Class Mini (our class association) a letter to request that these miles count toward my qualifying miles. The weather was crazy, and I think that the committee should have moved the time limit. We’ll just have to wait and see what they say.

As for my plans, I am headed back to France in June to sail the Mini Fastnet. This 600 nautical mile race is double-handed (Two sailing the boat). I will sailing with a Frenchman as my co-skipper in this race. It starts in Douarenez France, goes to Fastnet rock at the tip of Ireland and then returns to Douarnez. This will be my first time sailing in the Irish Sea; and I’m really looking forward to it, the area is well known for it’s exciting weather conditions…

My hope is that the Classe Mini will accept the miles from the Pornichet select and that I will then be qualified after finishing the Fastnet. If all of this works out, I will be home for July and August and then back to France at the beginning of September to prepare for the Transat. However, if the Classe Mini do not approve my Pornichet Select miles, then the Mini Fastnet will be my last race in France. I will then have to make arrangements to get the boat back to Canada.

The good news, is that if the Mini Transat doesn’t work out I have been offered a watch captain position on the Open 60 for a delivery from Hawaii to the west coast, 3000nm. So one way or another I will be sailing at least 4000nm by the end of the summer!

This is just totally awesome….

l’Hydroptère - L’histoire d’un rêve - The story of a dream (3 min) from Team Hydroptère on Vimeo.

Well I am now back at work and settled back into regular life after an amazing trip to Auckland. I thought it would be a good idea to do a round up of the various media that has been posted on the trip.

Sail World published an article I wrote on the whole O Canada Experience.

The film crew posted a couple of awesome little short videos

For the boat geeks out there I took a pile of detail photos of the boat. Check them out here:

From O Canada Details

Finally, the Wind Athletes Canada website is still posting photos and video of the boat, so be sure to check in there.

I have also been trying to use twitter and Facebook a lot more, so please shoot me a friend request on FB and follow me on twitter www.twitter.com/nathanbaron.

I knew it was going to be a good day when we were walking down the dock toward O Canada and walked right past Moose Sanderson, Rolex sailor of the year and winner of the last VOR. (One of the Team Origin tenders is tied up just next to O Canada.)

On getting to the boat, we did some initial camera shots and then got down to the initial boat briefing. For me, this wasn’t too much of shock, maybe a bit more for my fellow sailors. I have done some sailing on big carbon fibre boats, so it wasn’t like walking on the moon or anything. All that said, she is a different beast to any other I have sailed on.

The new 60s are big powerful boats. It’s hard to describe the power of these things. With keel at full cant, daggerboard dug in, and a sail plan that is maxed out for the current wind range, you can definitely feel that power. You can feel it in the helm, in the motion of the boat and loading on all the lines. While it’s a bit scary to wait for stuff to blow up, it is so exilerating to feel her pick up her bow and really go.

On the way out into the bay we sailed past the Louis Vitton Trophy boats match racing up toward us. (We sailed just metres from their windward mark.) What can I say, I am still star struck around IACC boats.)

Out in the harbour we got the kite and I was lucky enough to drive quite a bit in 15-20knts of wind, boat trucking along at 13knts. We jybed, and then doused the kite and headed back up the harbour with the big genny.

The wind now was gusting a little higher we were at the top end of the sail, and were getting ready to roll it away and switch to the solent. The solent was rolled out and we were in the process of rolling up the genny when the leach just totally blew up. The poor old sail had a lot of miles on it, and the mylar had that crackly, too much sun sound to it. Once that was all clear away, we did a few tacks up the harbour toward home.

Manouvers on these boats are a big deal. On the mini, I feel like I have a lot to do during any maneuver, but on this boat there are a few more things to do as well as the distance between things in the cockpit. I kept visualizing how it would work single handed and I have to say that it would be a real handful. I would want to do a LOT of practice to make sure that I didn’t break anything or get pinned on the wrong tack. (Gotta remember to do that damn keel!)

Once back in the harbour, we got her into her berth and all cleaned up and had a little debrief over some food in the cockpit. Everyone was happy and the maintenance list wasn’t too long, so all in all a good day.

As for living here, we have a nice apartment with a good kitchen and laundry right in our room. Living in Auckland is very expensive, so it is nice to be able to do meals back at the room. (Does anyone out there have a suggestion on a good grocery store near Viaduct Harbour? We are all looking for one…)

That’s all for now. I have to take a look at the weather and find a strong cup of coffee before we get down to the boat. (Still feeling the jet lag.)

Cheeers,

n

From Seafever via gCaptain

This is pretty cool…

Intensity & Intricacy On the Water from Wing Productions on Vimeo.

I’m super excited about this!

I’ve been selected to participate in a new program from Wind Athletes Canada to participate in a program that will allow some Canadian sailors to go down to New Zealand and learn to sail an Open 60, O Canada (ex Spirit of Canada).

This is a wonderful opportunity for me, not just because I get to sail on Canada’s most bad ass boat, but even better, I get to work with some amazing sailors and coaches. The other members of the sailing squad are members of the Canadian Sailing Team and are training for the next Olympics. (I feel a bit the odd man out on this one, being the only offshore sailor in the bunch, but whatever, different people always bring different things to the team.)

Our coaches Dan Slater and Ed Smyth are both New Zealanders and ex-America’s Cup sailors. While a may be sailing a bit of different game then these folks, I am so excited to learn from them. Just a great opportunity to

As for the program, we’ll be doing some day sails out of Viaduct Harbour for the first few days as we learn the systems on the boat and then do a few days offshore and get into a watch system. (This is going to be simply luxurious for me! I never get to sleep more than 20 minutes when I’m sailing these days. I have almost forgotten what a four hour watch is like!)

I am so grateful to Wind Athletes Canada for making this a possibility. There are so few opportunities in Canada to expand experience in offshore sailing and I really applaud the effort to bring this type of program to sailors who are ready learn and expand their horizons.

I’m hoping to do some writing along the way on this so I hope that you’ll stay tuned to find out how it all works out!

Good News came from France this week.

I received word from the Classe Mini that my 1000nm qualification was approved by the committee. This is great news as I have the paper to prove that I am now halfway through my Mini Transat qualifications!

The boat is once again at Boat Services Kingston and I am starting to get my head wrapped around the work list for the spring. On the list: Bottom paint, splicing and replacing some running rigging as well as changing some block positions. Nothing major luckily.

John Clark and Andy Soper have my sails at the Kingston Sail Loft for a check up and some tweaks. I’m so grateful for their ongoing support.

The schedule for next season seems to be coming together and I think we are going to have an interesting year. More on this soon.