SINGAPORE - The Piton posted it so I stole their title, they got it right in one go “47.2 knots of pure awesome-ness”. This video is of The French Hydroptère when it broke a world record for the fastest sailing speed (not including icesailing) when they hit 47.2 knots. Unreal.

I love the comments:

I wouldn’t want to be on this thing if it pitchpoled.

what happens if you hit a whale?

you die, whale dies

:-)

-Robin-

LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - Eh, how’d we miss this one!?

In 2008 Simon Evans and Fearghal O’Nuallain will leave their homes in Wicklow (Ireland) and begin their attempt to circumnavigate the world by bike and by boat.

So I spotted a trackback to TGU posted by Fearghal on the Revolution blog and stumbled across this fantastic cycling expedition. At least the guys have the most important piece in place, and that is a great webmaster, their site is fantastic. As Matt & Mustard will attribute to their Ski Greenland expedition earlier in the year, having someone to take responsibility of broadcasting your message to friends & family is very important.

Below is a map of their intended route:

My favourite section of the website itemises some of the equipment they will take:

# Frame
# Forks
# Brakes
# Tyres
# Communications
# Portable Solar Panels
# Laptop
# Satellite Phone
# Headcam

Lads, we’ll follow your expedition site with great interest but if you can get Paul to send us a ’status report’ after a significant milestone (reaching Asia?) we’ll do a feature post on your progress ;-)

TGU Readers, make sure to check out their fantastic revolutioncycle.ie

Best of luck!

-Robin

The yacht had left the West Indies over 2 weeks ago ad had lost all radio contact (Did they not have a EPIRB?). 2 crew were rescued by Valentia lifeboat. Good job.

More to follow.

-Robin-

LONDON (Geared Up Blog) - I’ve just bought and finished “The Crossing” by Ben Fogle (BBC Castaway 2000 etc.) & James Cracknell (2 Times Gold Olympic Rower) in the last 2 weeks. It’s a fantastic read. Not only that, but I got a signed copy from Stanford’s expedition books in Central London. I’ve found the signed copy brings it right home - every step of the way I felt with them.

James & Ben rowed the Atlantic in the Woodvale Trans-Atlantic Race. I had no idea this was as tough, not even that but they come first place. The book really does bring you right in the boat with them, it’s the first time I’ve felt so attached to people through text. The end is brilliant, so touching. Just go out and get your hands on a copy.

Remember the Irish lads we were tracking? They were in the same year. I’d be very tempted to partake in this race some time. I was looking at the Atlantic Woodvale boats for sale page. Many of the 2005/2006 boats from their year are available to buy second hand: Atlantic 4, All Relative, Atlantic Prince, Pacific Pete, C2, Row4Life, Rowgirls.com & Spirit of Cornwall.

I wonder who has Ben’s boat. I’d love to buy it and row around the European coastline for a start :-)

LONDON (Geared Up Blog) - In 10 minutes MICHAEL PERHAM, Born 16th March 1992, is about to become the youngest person to ever sail trans-atlantic solo.

BBC are reporting:

The mission has lasted six weeks with stops in Gibraltar and Cape Verde.

Michael’s yacht, Cheeky Monkey, is being shadowed by his father, Peter, a quantity surveyor, who is also in radio contact.

RTE News are reporting:

A problem with a sail on the 28ft boat delayed his arrival in Antigua by 24 hours and he is now due to reach the Caribbean island today. Michael, who has been sailing since he was seven, set off on his voyage from Gibraltar on November 18.

His father Peter, an experienced yachtsman, has been shadowing the trip and is in regular radio contact with his son.

The previous record for the youngest person to cross the Atlantic was set by 15-year-old Sebastian Clover from the Isle of Wight, who sailed from the Canary Islands to Antigua in January 2003.

I managed to grab these screenshots of their live tracking position from Mike’s website just as they are off the coast of Antigua at their finishing line.

Follow live tracking: OC Tracker

Mike’s website: SailMike.com

Well done Mike - That’s a fantastic achievement!

UTV News was quick to report this: we saw him come into the harbour here just around 5pm.

Veteran fundraiser Matt Browne, who lost his leg to diabetes six years ago, today completed his inspirational 1,000-mile record a day ahead of schedule.

Arriving back at Howth, Co Dublin, from where he originally set off 19 days ago, the Kildare man said he was looking forward to a bath and a good night`s sleep.

See Matt Previously on Geared Up.

Meanwhile there’s been a cliff rescue taking place in Howth which I’m just in from. Details will be on http://www.howthcoastguard.com within the hour.

Just giving Mark Pollock & Tom Kennedy a shout out for the Irish Sea Kayak Challenge… They will cross the Irish Sea from Wales to Wexford in a double kayak.

What makes it special? Both lads are blind.

Mark has made some fantastic achievements since he became blind. Once of which was the Gobi Desert March with a friend of ours. He’s also done the North Pole Marathon 2003, the Liffey Descent 2004, the New Zealand Coast-to-Coast 2006 and prior to the Irish Sea Kayak Challenge he will just have competed in his first Iron Man race in Switzerland.

Tom has competed in marathons and triathlons in Berlin, New York and Dublin. He has successfully completed 3 Liffey Descents 2002, 2003,and 2004 and has also completed a 125 mile tandem cycle for charity.

8 other paddlers will complete the crossing with them.

Visit their website at: irishseakayakingchallenge.ie

Photo by Geared Up

Photo above shows two of the yachts, Pindar & Spencer Dock tied up in Howth Harbour today. Worth a look if you’re local!

On the 22nd April, the yachts will leave the River Liffey (via the 11am swing bridge opening). They will sail to the start line which is north of Howth in line with Ireland’s Eye.

Once over the start line, the yachts will sail around Ireland clockwise non-stop, a course of 800-850 nautical miles.

They will return about 4-5 days later.

For those of you into kitesurfing there is an event coming up this weekend (15th. - 17th. April) in Tramore, Co. Waterford, The event is of two disciplines (the first being Freestyle and the second being Wave) For more information re: accommodation and travel see kitesurf.ie or kitesurfing.ie.

Even if you are not taking part but have a spare day it is well worth dropping down to have a look.

Photo by Geared Up

I’ve developed the CommentCasting system myself. You avid readers will see the top right of this page now has a little gadget that lets you listen to audio comments.

And I’d like to try a social experiment on Geared Up readers. The next time you are in any wilderness, outdoory, marine, mountainous, windy, exposed or anything odd environment, take out your mobile phone and dial:

‘076 60 20 927′ and enter ID 100

Take out your phone right now, and add that to your phonebook. When you dial the number you’ll be asked to enter an ID. Enter 100 on the keypad. Then talk away, tell us where you are, what the weather’s like and what activity your partaking in. Remember to press the ‘#’ key when done.

Within about 0.24 seconds after you press #, your comment is encoded as an MP3 and skyrocketed to the world wide web for everyone to listen to on Geared Up, right here.

Please do try it.. we could collect some wonderful experiences.