zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

Thanks for posting the picture, Digger. For the non-sailors in the group, this boat is doing about 35 MPH when this shot was taken, and if you wanted to you could easily water ski off the back of it. To set this record, Ellen had to keep this monster AT SPEED for 70 days straight, 24/7. That includes at night, in the Southern Ocean, with the occasional iceberg lurking around, and having to let the boat run full open while you get a couple of hours of sleep. In addition, all that picturesque spray around the boat is a couple of degrees above freezing at most, and it rakes back over the cockpit at whatever the wind velocity is at the time, which can be up to 60 - 70 knots. In Nelson's day it was "Iron men in wooden boats". Now it's "Iron women in carbon fiber boats."