An update from One Girl’s Ocean Challenge (OGOC). Many of you are wondering how the adventures of this past summer have summed up and how things are moving forward on the campaign. Although Diane has spoken to many friends and supporters over the past few months, we wanted to communicate to everyone exactly where the campaign is at.
In the last year we have worked very hard and been very successful in getting the word out about OGOC. The campaign has been featured in many publications. Diane has been interviewed on radio and television (most recently appearing on Breakfast Television), and the team has raised thousands of dollars. On the sailing front, we achieved most of our goals, acquiring the boat, being first mini in the LO300, coming first in the double handed Bermuda Ocean Race and Diane having now qualified as a member of the Great Lakes Single Handed Society.
The other challenge for this year was the 1000 mile qualifying sail, a pre-requisite for entry in the Transat. After winning the double handed race from Annapolis to Bermuda, Diane was scheduled to complete a single handed 1000 nautical mile qualifying run back from Bermuda to Annapolis. During the voyage back Diane got a really good dose of what all mini sailors experience as they climb the steep learning curve with these unique and exciting craft while preparing both themselves and their boats for the Mini Transat. The 40+ knot winds, high seas and driving rain night after night, combined with numerous electrical faults provided a blessing in disguise (for the complete gory details of the trip please check June’s blog “A funny thing happened on the way home from Bermuda”).
Following this experience and the valuable lessons it provided, we faced the practical reality that there was insufficient time to properly plan and prepare for a successful qualifying run prior to the race in 2011. “Do it right, or don’t do it at all” is one of the philosophies of the campaign and has been a guiding principle for the team. We have reformulated our approach based on a much clearer understanding of what it will take to sail the boat hard for a prolonged period, and the training and testing required to position us not just to finish, but to win the race.
After lengthy discussions with, the team, key supporters, donors, sponsors and potential sponsors, we have made the decision to target the 2013 Transat race rather than the 2011 Transat race. (The Transat is run every two years.)
Thank you to everyone who has supported this fantastic campaign to date. We believe this new strategy will present an even stronger platform for supporters and our combined success. I am pleased to report that all of the team has committed to stay on and build on the successes we have achieved so far. We have a lot of plans for the next two years and we look forward to implementing them.
Diane and I are always excited to hear from you, so please continue to support and inspire us with your thoughts and comments via our website, blog and facebook
Roger VanVlack
Chairman
One Girl’s Ocean Challenge
