Preparations: ISAF & the Doc
The last three days were all about getting ready for the new season.
Saturday and Sunday I spent in Woergl, Austria to renew my required ISAF Safety at Sea certificate. The training was held by ex-Volvo Ocean Race skipper Andreas Hanakamp who managed to convey all the information in a very lively and interesting way.
Compared to the training at the german navy 5 years ago in Neustadt/Holstein this training was a lot more focused on sailing boats but we also talked a lot about chartering boats due to the audience.
After all a great training and a good refresher on some topics.
This afternoon then it was time for the medical checks.
In order to participate in the acores race we are required to undergo some medical checks.
First there was the echocardiogram whose results were that – in my ears – my heart sounds like a train but all is good. It was eery to see your own heart pumping on the screen.
After that I did the stress-ECG where they ramped me up to 200W and also turned out ok.
That means that the last “paper”-hurdles have fallen in order to qualify for the acores race this year. All that’s “left” is to complete one race and to finish my 1000nm qualifier.
But until at least June 30th my registration should be ok.
So with those things out of the way it’s time to make sure the remaining equipment which needs to be bought, repaired is done but things also look promising on that front: Structures finished the new rudders and they’re waiting for me to pick them up, the boat should be leaving the yard and day now and only the sailmaker has some things to finish.
Next week it’s time to put the mast back into the boat and get the boat back into a race-ready condition. Can’t wait!
A short video of the 2013 season
I finally got around to compile a couple of the gigabytes of video footage from last year into a short video. Most of the sequences were shot during the Pornicht Select (e.g. the upwing stuff). There’s much more material I haven’t had the chance to look into yet, maybe some other time.
At least it’s a small teaser for the new season and what might come in 2015…
enjoy!
PS: Thanks to Frank for the footage of me with the big kite up