Across the Pond

I'll join you all from Leg two as Sucking Diesel. Sailor X - I'll buy you a beer or two in New York as I'm doing Leg 8 on D~L~D.

She's been for sale with Berthon for a couple of years now, who also had Martella listed for a while but it looks like she has been sold. Thanks for putting the link up about Galicia.

Do you know if this is the Farr Tokio that sailed in the race or the Swarbrick Tokio that was only used pre race?No idea...The Swarbrick Tokio had an odd keel I think, fin went forwards?? The boat in Chuso's picture is the Farr boat, the Swarbrick's in Helsinki. I read something recently which said that the original Galicia 93 is in Gaeta, Italy but has been ashore for a number of years.

Do you know if this is the Farr Tokio that sailed in the race or the Swarbrick Tokio that was only used pre race?No idea...The Swarbrick Tokio had an odd keel I think, fin went forwards??

This is great info, is it Yamaha 1 or 2? Any chance of a couple of new pictures? It would be Yamaha 2, which was the training boat for America's Challenge. Yamaha 1's now called Cuba Libre and seems to do the Med - Caribbean regatta circuit.

New Zealand Endeavour is in Italy and Fisher & Paykel is in Lanzarote, being run quite successfully as a charter yacht. From the Daily Sail list it looks like NZI Enterprise is in Split and has been sitting on the hard for over 20 years. Outward Bound apparently is in a shed n Tauranga

Hi Catherine, For some reason I decided to check this thread after some time away and have been blown away by your attitude to all of this. My experiences do not remotely compare to yours, or many others on this thread, but reading these posts brings back memories of the day, eleven years ago, when I was diagnosed with end stage renal failure. I looked at my blood figures and realised that the words ‘end stage’ didn’t relate just to my kidney – they related to my life. If dialysis didn’t work then that was it and I would be gone in a couple of weeks. Being faced with my own mortality at 24 was not ideal and I was faced with two choices – give in or fight. There was no way some pesky illness was going to get the better of me so I fought like mad (I am Irish after all). Things weren’t easy and at times I was scared, frustrated, frightened, pissed off, but I just kept focusing on the one goal of getting through. I did and eleven years later am still here. So hang on in there, keep fighting and keep farting! Love from Belfast, ATP.

My own story doesn't really compare to what you have gone though, HCW, but I kind of know how you feel. Five years ago I was due to go on the BT Global Challenge and fulfill my dream of racing around the world. However, five months before the start of the race I was diagnosed with end stage renal failure. I had been suffering with problems for a year or so, but hadn't been expecting things to go this badly wrong. I ended up in a bed, 37kgs heavier due to the fluid that my body wasn't processing and with a haemoglobin level of 4.7. Normally it is about 13 and you don't really survive if it goes below 4.0. Strangely, my first reaction to being told about the condition was to think about sailing - at least it made the decision about whether I would go on the Global Challenge or not. I had been admitted to hospital on a few occasions and it was always thinking of sailing that kept my spirits up. When I lay in bed and felt the cooling breeze from the fan, I closed my eyes and imagined I was sailing under spinnaker, being driven by a Tradewind breeze and lying on deck, staring at the stars. There then followed two and a half years of dialysis and on three occasions I went through the process of being called for a transplant and it not being a good match, though ultimately I did get a kidney on the fourth attempt. Again, I spent much of my time on dialysis thinking about the sailing I would do when I was better. The third time I didn't get a transplant was very tough - I had gone 18 months without a call. A few days afterwards I went out on my parents boat, on a beautiful sunny day. Being on the boat that day made me realise that life really wasn't that bad! True enough, six weeks later the transplant occurred. I have no regrets about my illness and time on dialysis. Being so ill when you are 24 (or any age) really focuses your mind about what is important and what you want to do with your life. I got by by always trying to find the positive aspects of every situation, no matter how bad it was. Realising that there was always someone else in the world worse off than you kept your feet on the ground as well. Having a kidney transplant, though, gave me a huge boost and incredible energy to get out and make the most of my life. Since my transplant I have done a Masters at Cambridge University (I failed my transfer test at primary school!) and am now a trainee chartered surveyor in London. However, the biggest thing for me was taking part in the last two legs of this years Global Challenge. I sailed from Boston to La Rochelle and from La Rochelle to Portsmouth on board Pindar. Whilst you cannot exactly beat kidney failure (a transplant is a very good treatment, not a cure), I proved to myself that I still can take part in a great adventure such as this race. It was a very special experience. Still I am not finished, though. Racing round the world is not feasible for me, but I want to try and help young sailors who have that dream achieve their goals. I am trying to get an offshore campaign up and running that will get a young crew together and do some of the big European events - Fastnet, Gotland, Middle Sea, Round Ireland, Round Britain and Ireland. It will give them a good CV boost for and me some great sailing. Funding, as ever, is the problem, but I will get there eventually. HCW, apologies for hijacking your thread! However, I know what it is like to be down and how valuable sailing is in keeping your spirits up. I am in awe of all you guys who have experienced life with cancer. Your positive spirit is inspiring. Good luck with the project - you will get there!