Whitsunday Sailing Club Member and commercial skipper Ian “Thommo” Thomson will set off in late April to break the world record for sailing non stop solo unassisted around Australia. The campaign is known as SOS (Save our Seas) Ocean Racing and is out to raise awareness for the damage that plastic bags are doing to our environment.
Some facts from the SOS Ocean Racing website are:
The main issue of this campaign is to reduce the number of plastic bags used by Australians and Mr Thomson states that he hopes one day Australia will be a plastic bag free country. After the sail around Australia, Mr Thomson plans to campaign local, state and federal governments to introduce a plastic bag tax like the one placed in Ireland that resulted in a 90% reduction in use. Until then he encourages people to REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE their plastic bags so they don’t clog up the environment.
The current record for non stop solo unassisted around Australia is held by Brisbane sailor David Beard who set a time of 68 days 8 hours and 30 minutes however Mr Thomson plans to smash that record by completing the journey in less than 50 days. The vessel he will be using is a much faster vessel and hence it is not out of reach. The attempt will be run out of the Gold Coast and heads outside the Great Barrier Reef, around the Thursday Islands, Melville Island, North West Cape, Cape Leeuwin, South East Cape (Tasmania) and Sydney Heads before ending up back on the Gold Coast. It will depart in late April/early May. The campaign will also compete in the Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race at Easter.
Solo sailing has become a high news point recently with the exploits of Jessica Watson sailing around the world to become the youngest to do so however the World Speed Sailing Record Council will not ratify her attempt as they discourage the “youngest” title. However Mr Thomson is out to set an official world record and should he succeed will be become the first official person to have completed the journey solo. The current record is only in the Guinness Book of Records and was never ratified by the WSSRC.
The highlight of the campaign will be the Live Video Streaming coming from onboard providing website visitors and news broadcasts the ability to see what is happening live at certain times of the day. This footage is being provided by, Streaming Video Systems. This system was used on the Volvo 60 Merit in the recent Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and provided viewers an insight as to life on an ocean racing machine. In addition Sail-world.com will be covering the entire journey with daily updates.
A unique aspect to this campaign is the ability for the everyday public to become a team member. Just like your favorite footy team, you will be able to support the campaign by becoming a member. Mr Thomson explains, “We are currently building a list of sponsors who can offer discounts or products to our membership package. The idea is to make the membership package unbeatable value and we are still seeking additional sponsors for this purpose. Once we have the complete package, we will launch our membership campaign where the everyday public can sign up to be a member and they will get a free crew shirt and what we hope will be an incredible package of vouchers and offers. Islandive.com has already come onboard to provide discount vouchers on trips around the magical Whitsunday Islands and I am hoping other businesses will do likewise. Sponsors can come from any field as long as they have a commitment to being Plastic Bag Free”
Anybody wishing to support the campaign should visit the campaigns website at www.sosoceanracing.com or e-mail Ian direct at info@sosoceanracing.com Membership packages will not be available until late January as the membership package is still being built.
Please help our campaign and pass this onto relevant people in your mailing address book. Together we can help save our planet, 1 plastic bag at a time.
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SOS Ocean Racing
www.sosoceanracing.com
SAVE OUR SEAS
mobile: 0412 932 808
Skype: sosoceanracing