One Girls Ocean Challenge

September 27, 2010

Off Andrew and I went on Saturday for the Summerville Race.  First task was to get the boat from Port Credit to ABYC.  The breeze was up and behind us.  We saw boat speeds of 8-11 knots with just the main up.  After the race start, two carbo blocks failed…..The one at the top of the mast guiding the spin halyard and the starboard jib fairlead block.  As it was blowing 20+ we decided that not only could we not race at optimum, but that we would never make it back in time for the Lake Ontario 300 awards that night in Port Credit. So we took the boat in to ABYC and had just enough time to get to Port Credit and put a party dress on!
Diane

September 25, 2010

Last minute addition to this year’s training roster!  We’re going to do the Summerville in the Mini with my good friend Andrew.  You can all follow along on the spot tracker.  The race starts at 1055am.

Diane

September 24, 2010
What a great bunch of people you all are…..thanks for coming and listening to my story and for all of your support 🙂

Diane

September 24, 2010

We’re off to Oakville Yacht Squadron tonight to tell everyone about One Girl’s Ocean Challenge!

Diane

What a great weekend.  We raced over to Port Dalhousie on Saturday and then raced back on Sunday.  Saturday was a “one tacker”.  No real strategy required, just water line speed.  Sunday the wind was up down and all around.  Still a tough slog right to the finish with no wind!  Great weekend!  What did you guys do?  Results of the raffle draw will be posted soon 🙂
Diane

September 17, 2010

It’s the big weekend!
Last LOSHRS race of the season. We’re off racing to Dalhousie on Saturday and then back to Port Credit Yacht Club on Sunday! The big raffle draw is Saturday night at dinner, so make sure that you have your tickets and follow the boat on the spot tracker!

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

Sooooo?  How was everyone’s weekend?  Sounds like there was lots of sailing in the works for people.  We had a great time on the and dominated second place in IRC 2 for the QCYC LORC race!  That’s not us in the pic below, but it’s a great picture!

1st prize is one week in Bequia in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 2nd prize is a week in Cuba and third prize is an inflatable life jacket. Get your tickets through the home page by clicking on “donate”. Tickets are $20 each. The draw will be done at the LOSHRS Port Dalhousie …race in 2 weeks on September 18.