8th Feb 2010

Strontium Dog - stricken!

Andrew, Simon, Strontium Dog & the Round Britain and Ireland Race 2010

On the 6th of June this year Andrew Fennell and Simon Redding will be participating in the 2 handed Round Britain and Ireland race – in a boat they thought would never sail again...

The Round Britain and Ireland is a gruelling no holds barred sailing marathon which takes the competitors from Plymouth, round the southern tip of Ireland, over the Shetland Isles and back down the East coast. The drop out rate from gear failure and storm damage (usually north of Scotland) is normally around 20%. Not for the faint hearted!

For Andrew however the race began 5 years ago when his trimaran yacht suffered a 'small reduction in the number of hulls': the main beam holding the whole structure together failed resulting in the loss of the port outer hull and near capsize. This in a Force 7 off Beachy Head. The RNLI came to the rescue and evacuated 5 of the 7 sailors on board leaving Andrew and his brother Peter to tend the stricken vessel as it was towed back to Dover by lifeboat. An ordeal that made the yachting press at the time.

In the depths of despair, Andrew assumed that all was lost...but having had a few beers and a decent curry that night in Dover, a cunning plan was hatched! It was decided that a 4 year rebuild would be embarked upon with the help of one of the top multihull yacht designers in the country with the aim of being on the start line of the 2010 Round Britain race!

And so it was....the boat was rebuilt using carbonfibre over a painstakingly long and expensive 4 years at a little known boatyard on the exotic island of Canvey. Now Andrew and Simon have been training on board since she launched in April last year, (actually mostly breaking lots of things and fixing them).

On the last weekend in February they're planning to complete their 300 mile non stop qualifier (err, in the North Sea, in February ?? Evidently they both have a screw loose – Ed)

To add to the challenge Andrew and Simon are keen to raise money for two charities, THT and Sail 4 Cancer. To donate PLEASE CLICK HERE>

Please visit the blog for progress updates by clicking here> There is also more background on the 2 skippers and the specs of their 43' trimaran 'Strontium Dog'.

For the official race website click here>.

Story by Cathy Jenkins

For further information:

Email: click here
Web: www.sail4cancer.org
Tel: +44 (0)845 408 1849