Richard's Journal - Cross Atlantic Challenge

Record attempt over - for now...

"We are still very committed to breaking this record, the boat did great"
Richard Branson

Virgin Money moored safely in Bermuda on Friday 24 October 2008, bringing their Cross-Atlantic Challenge to a halt.

Although the yacht and its 24 strong crew were beaten by the weather this time, with the yacht sustaining extensive damage to the mainsail, Ben Ainslie and the rest of the crew remain convinced that the yacht could, in the right conditions break the current record of 6 days 17 hours, 39 minutes and 52 seconds.

Richard Branson confirmed that another record attempt is definitely on the cards when weather conditions are suitable: "This crew is made up of the most amazing group of sailors. We are still very committed to breaking this record. The boat did great."

Holly Branson said she would jump at the chance to give the record attempt another go: "If it goes again, I am going to be on it. We have just got to wait for a weather window. These guys are amazing; they really know what they are doing. What an experience!"

Ben Ainslie added: "Virgin Money is well able to break the record, and I look forward to having another go."

Although the yacht is currently undergoing repairs, it shouldn't be too long before she is out on the open sea again, making another attempt at this historic record. Watch this space...

Virgin Money arrives safely in Bermuda

Dreams dashed

After approximately 2 days and 4 hours at sea in the face of impossible odds the crew of Virgin Money had to admit defeat on their first attempt to set a new world record for the fastest mono-hull crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. After 2 days that saw the crew and Virgin Money overcome seas of 40ft and gale force winds of between 7 and 9 their dreams were finally dashed when a ‘monster wave’ took out the spinnaker, washed a ten man life boat overboard and ripped a huge gash in the mainsail.

Speaking to Mission Control after the decision to abandon the record attempt this time round, the crew were frustrated but upbeat about the boat’s performance and chances of success in the future. Co-skipper Sir Richard Branson said: “I am surrounded by the most amazing group of world class sailors - all of whom are still committed to getting this record – its just a shame it wasn’t to be on this attempt. Virgin Money will soon be fighting fit and ready to take on the Atlantic again in the very near future. Taking on an ocean like the Atlantic was never going to be easy – I know that only too well having been defeated by her once before on Virgin Challenger 1 - you learn to respect the awesome power of this ocean and to admit when she has you beat. But I truly believe that next time, as with Virgin Challenger 11, Virgin Money will set a new world record that will secure its place in the record books for many years to come.”

From onboard Virgin Money fellow co-skipper Mike Sanderson was characteristically laid back: “Well that was a fairly exciting trip… We all knew, as a result of leaving so late in the season, we were in for a bumpy ride – we just didn’t suspect it to be this bumpy. We had a good go at repairing the mainsail at sea but it wasn’t possible in the conditions we were experiencing. Lady Luck was not smiling down on us this time round. Virgin Money performed well and she’ll be good to go again just as soon as we get the mainsail repaired.”

Triple Gold Olympic medal winner Ben Ainslie had just spent his first 2 days ocean racing on Virgin Money: “I’m just as disappointed as Richard and Mike that we didn’t achieve our goal this time out of the dock but I’m looking forward to breaking the record next time out. Virgin Money is an awesome piece of kit – a real beast.” 

Holly and Sam Branson were equally up for the next challenge, Holly said: “It’s been an amazing trip to be part of. I didn’t have to use my medical skills too much, despite the crew taking a real battering during the 2 days on board. I’m not too upset though as I’m looking to stepping onto dry land and taking in some Bermudan sun!” 

Sam added: “It’s a bit of a shame to be heading back. As beginners it took Holly and I a full day to find our sea legs but the last day has been amazing. It’s been all hands on deck and incredible to share the experience with all of the guys involved. With a bit more luck and the right weather conditions the next attempt will be great to be part of.” 

The crew and Virgin Money are expected in St George’s Customs Dock, Bermuda at 5pm local (9pm BST). 

ENDS 

For further information:

General Press office
Tel: +44 207 111 1015

Jackie McQuillan, Group PR Director, Virgin Money
Tel: + 44 7905 309096
Jackie.mcquillan@virgin.com

Scott Mowbray, Head of PR, Virgin Money
Tel: +44 7906 444540
Scott.mowbray@virginmoney.com

Grant Bather, PR Manager, Virgin Money
Tel: +44 7834 844427
Grant.bather@virginmoney.com

Virgin Money in action

'Virgin Money' leaves New York

'Virgin Money' races across open sea

My rota

The last 24 hours have been very exciting. My Rota started with sleeping which was great news as I was absolutely shattered. Being on watch was so amazing, massive swells but every 5 or so waves we just got battered. Everyone was drenched! 

I’m on watch with Ben who has been looking out for me. He keeps asking me if I’m ok, but despite the conditions I’m not scared at all. Even in the dark with 30 foot waves it’s not too bad. I thought I would be petrified but the fact we are with such amazing sailors has put me at ease. 

When I came down from this watch I was soaked from head to toe, as well as inside my wet gear -all the way through to my underwear. I was starting to get really cold. This was the first time that I didn’t really feel I was enjoying myself too much! 

I only had one spare pair of thermals and was in a quandary as to whether to change or save them for when it gets cold. I sat in the wet gear for a couple of hours and then decided I had to change. I then went for another sleep after my watch and the next time I was meant to go out was in the pitch black with the most ghastly conditions. 

I haven’t eaten much - each time I do eat I’m sick! But I’ve managed to keep a power bar down…for now!

Brutal but amazing

We have been out here now just over 24 hours but it feels like 24 days. Leaving New York we have a magnificent sight of the Statue of Liberty and it wasn’t until then that it hit home what we were embarking on. The winds have been up to gale force 8 and we’ve had sea swells up to 35 feet and seen speeds of 30 knots. It is difficult trying to get used to having only three hours sleep and as the breast of the ship crashes over every wave a loud shudder runs down through the whole boat - brutal but amazing. 

Elapsed time: 26 hours 50 minutes

Course over ground: 096T
Boat’s position: 38°26.42'N 063°14.76'W 
Boat speed: 16.6 kts 
Wind speed: 26.1 kts
Wind direction: 359T

Rough seas spray the deck

Through the storm

The weather hasn't eased off at all and we all decided that rather than go around the storm, which would add a few hours onto our record attempt, we would try to ride straight through it. The boat is making tremendous speeds of 30 knots and the crew are holding up well, despite the buffeting we are all getting.

An amazing experience

Today has been very windy and rough, everyone’s got wet. Now we know what they meant when they said it would be like 6 days in a washing machine. I have already been knocked down to my knees at least 3 times and shuffled back into the stack of sails.

The lifejackets have tablets in them which dissolve if you fall into the water causing the lifejacket to inflate itself. We’ve got so wet today that 7 people have already had their lifejackets suddenly inflate, quite a shock. At least it’s on a warm cycle and the water is lukewarm, but that will change.

The weather has been really challenging, but Virgin Money is handling the conditions great. It will be a long night as we try to dodge this low pressure ahead of us and move south.

This experience is amazing. The guys are doing a sail change as we speak and I am cooking for my watch.

Philip Wehrheim

On board footage

Elapsed time: 10 hours 50 minutes

Course over ground: 101T
Boat’s position: 40°25.86'N 068°55.42'W
Boat speed: 20.7 kts 
Wind speed: 28.4 kts
Wind direction: 359t

This really is an adventure

Well we’ve set sail. This really is an adventure. I still can’t actually believe I’m on the yacht. We set off from London yesterday thinking that the departure time was at 6am New York time, but when we arrived we were told that all had changed and we were setting off 4 hours earlier. We then had to pack really quickly before heading to the yacht.

We had a briefing from Mike about safety and then from Stan (the navigator) about weather. This is going to be one hell of a trip. Dad, Sam and I were then shown where to stand when on deck, how to put our harnesses on and where to clip onto. I also learnt how our EPRB and emergency beacons work in case we fall over board. That is not something I would like to do!

Holding up well

The boat is really noisy and earplugs are going to be a must.

We’re holding up well and all the crew are great. We’ve sailed approximately 150 miles after leaving Ambrose lighthouse over 8 hours ago. The wind has been about 25 knots so far and we're expecting it to pick up to 40-45 knots in the next 2 hours.

We’ve had good training time to get all the crew ready and everyone is prepared and up for the challenge ahead. We’re expecting extremely rough conditions in the next 12 hours or so but with such an experienced crew l feel confident of handling anything the Ocean throws at us.

To prepare, we 'enjoyed' our first freeze dried meal! It tasted like salted ground brown slurry! And I'm being generous...

Anyway, we’ve had to change the head sail on a number of occasions to account for the changing wind. Most of the time so far has been spent up on deck. It’s cold and will only get worse but at the moment it’s bearable. Holly and Sam are coping well as are the rest of the crew.

We are due South of Nantucket and nothing is broken yet!

Fantastic to be out here...

...blasting along finally on the mighty Virgin Money. So far the forecast has been spot on and we are heading North East at pace. 

It has been a long couple of days just getting here and making the tough calls that the team faced about when the best time to go Code Orange was and get the crew on planes. It's great to be back at sea, great group of guys, great boat that's beautifully prepared...now we need a little luck and a good chunk of good management to keep this thing in one piece and have the weather gods smile on us...

Fingers crossed, I'll keep you posted...

We're off

I can't quite believe we've decided to leave four hours earlier than planned to ensure we jump in front of a huge storm. The first 24 hours we'll endeavour to out-run a storm and navigate another that could cause major damage to the boat and destroy our chances of breaking the record. We need to navigate these two storm systems perfectly to have any chance of succeeding. It’s going to be a very challenging six days.

Standing by to stand by

I am not sure that there are many adventurous records in the world that don't involve the weather is some shape or form, whether it's a Ballooning attempt as Sir Richard and Virgin know all so much about, or in our case with this Cross Atlantic Challenge. Attempting to cross the Atlantic in the fastest time possible in a mono-hull sailing boat, beating the current record of 6 days 17 hours, it is just a matter of hurrying up and waiting.... Well that’s how we so often talk about it and that is what is so often written about campaigns like this.
The reality is that even while we are moored there is still a lot going on.

Every six hours we have two separate teams looking at the weather situation, Ken Campbell and his team at Commanders and Stan Honey and the onboard team of Virgin Money. The first task is to look at the raw data individually. If there is even any slight glimmer of hope of a decent weather pattern then instantly the wheels of discussion start moving.
The plan is to see a possible attempt window as far out as seven days, then by constant monitoring we would watch it all the way down, right to the point where we get the onboard team set up and ready for the challenge with just 36 hours to go.

Despite the yacht staying in dock, Virgin Money is constantly worked on and prepared. Like any high tech piece of race equipment, she needs pretty constant nurturing and we have some of the world's best there with Nick Bice and his team who will ensure the yacht is ready to leap into action at short notice.

So, in one sense we are hurrying up and waiting, but when this thing begins it will happen quickly!!

It is all very exciting, we will keep you posted.

Mike Sanderson

Ten years has been too long

It will be a real privilege to set sail with such an able and experienced crew as TEAMORIGIN and I’m also thrilled that Holly and Sam have the opportunity to share the experience. The support of Jayne-Anne and the Virgin Money team has been crucial in making this record attempt happen and we’re all hoping we can add to the recent successes of British sailing. I’m also delighted to be taking on another record attempt – ten years has been too long! As soon as the weather allows we'll be off and chasing the record.