...can there be too much snow? YES (well, almost YES)!! While the days I spent over christmas and New Year in Austria were mostly in green surrounding – (no snow at all this year 🙁 , it was a total different ball game here in Japan... a heaven for powder junkies! In...
I had the pleasure to visit Harbin, China's most northern town - its name is deviated from the Manchu word for "a place for drying fishing nets". Well they definitely freeze there! Its just 200km from the Russian border, and the 48 hours I spent...
Often asked, now revealed: End of January I will be off again to hike and climb through the very wet jungles and mountains of Kenya and Uganda. The rocky spikes of Mt Kenya and the mysterious Mountains of the Moon – Rwenzori, will be the goal. The whole project...
Dear Friends & Supporters, With the imminent christmas holidays and December coming to an end its a good time to draw a line and look back at an extraordinary year. A year in which I have seen lots of success, achieved some long sought after dreams, but also had a...
I had the pleasure to speak to several schools in Austria over the last two days. More than 800 kids had the pleasure (or pain ?) to listen to my adventures. As a good friend of mine pointed out: Speaking to kids is way more difficult than adults - the latter ones...
Anybody familiar with the following situation: You have a really important appointment and just minutes before it is due you realize you are in the wrong location? So it happened Tuesday night as I was underway to my first live radio interview – Too bad that I...
Another weekend – another race. And again a first... this time a stair race. Stair or Tower Running has gotten quite a big following in the US and with the multitude of tall buildings in HK it seems somewhat obvious to host also such an event in the 852. The race – 82...
Over the years I have done my fair share of funny events and haven't shied away if something is for a good cause. So, when a few weeks back I read in Time Out HK about a race in pink heels for the benefit of breast cancer awareness I was game. The task: Run as fast as...
A few months in the making, its finally ready - the best moments & memories from my trip to Mt Everest & Lhotse. Pictures, videos and stories have been sifted - let me know if you want to hear more on the adventure!
Best of Clipper Race 2: Brest to Rio
Best of Race 1: London to Brest
Its been four days off the boat. Time to catch up with "normal"life again. Read news, check emails, sleep, drink, eat and especially party in abundance. Nowhere a better place than in Rio. Its an amazing place. The cityscape bears resemblance with Hong Kong with the...
We have made it! Unbelievable, what a relief – Team Switzerland has crossed the finish line of race 2 of the Clipper Round the World Race 13-14. For the 5500 miles we needed 30 days 4 hours and 41 minutes. That earns us a 10th place ahead of Mission...
They are coming at us!! …. Whales everywhere! We have steered into a minefield full of mammals, at least fifty of these massive creatures of the sea surrounding us.. and while breaching humpback whales are wonderful to watch at from a distance its a completely when it...
Its down the coast of Brazil and with that also the opportunity to bag a few more points. The Ocean Sprint – the fastest boat between the 5th and 10th degree of latitude south will get awarded another two points in the Clipper Around the World Race 13-14. For me that...
Seamen are a superstitious folk(who would otherwise forbid whistling as it apparently causes storms!). Crossing the equator without a sacrifice to King Neptune is therefore a big no-go! Hence Team Switzerland celebrated its equator crossing in style. We counted down...
Its fun sailing again, as we have finally hit the long expected trade winds. Since yesterday morning steady southwesterly winds are supporting our ride towards the equator and then hopefully onwards to Brazil. Its fun upwind sailing and our life is tilted again 🙂 The...
A silver lining to our suffering? Since yesterday afternoon southwesterly winds have started blowing, which has allowed us to steadily increase boatspeed. From a mere 1-2kts we are improving to 5-6kts, however still interrupted by violent squalls which let the boat...
Its 8am in the morning and I have just decided to quit my sweaty bunk. I am off watch since 6am and usually should use the time until midday to catch up on as much sleep as possible – it does not want to be! Charley, our chief engineer, has just started the project...
News from the Sweatbox: We are officially in the Doldrums -Scientifically called the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). This is the place where the weather system of the northern and southern hemisphere meet and create a belt of very little wind, or better said...
Remember Stargate - That portal to another planet? - currently we are on our way to our very own one, a wormhole identified by our chief navigator "Professor Spectra" Paolo. Its a unique weather situation, that could boost us very quickly through the Doldrums. If it...
Again truly exhausting 24 hours (I start to think that I use this term a bit too often). Our newly found racing spirit starts to show dividends – the last day and a half have seen us racing with a commitment as never before. All sail changes are executed with...
These lines might actually arrive a few days late, as our satellite connection is down once again – no emails, msgs or weather update 🙁 Its back to the world of 45degrees – in order to sail a course closer to the wind, we put back down our spinnaker last night to...
Our journey continues and as we pass the Canaries to the East, the temperature is rising steadily. Yesterday I had my first graveyard watch (the one from 2 to 6 in the morning) in shorts. Our ships starts to feel more and more like a big Sauna. Thankfully our...
Its the sixth day of our race to Rio, and I finally get myself to write some lines. The whole crew has now settled firmly into the watch system. This means that we operate the boat in two shifts, half the crew is on watch – operates the boat, works, repairs - while...
Day one of our journey Rio with race start in Brest . Drizzly, grey weather is greeting us. I am fetching Croissants for the team, a final "shore" - meal, before the stress of the last preparations takes over. There is again a presentation of the teams, similar to...
On shore again – after only four days on sea, I have firm ground again after my feet after anchoring in Brest – an important harbour town in Brittany. We arrived here Thursday afternoon after motoring the last 100 miles into harbour (see last post). Fresh on the dock...
Day 4 of the race - I dragged myself very tired out of the at bunk at half past one in the morning, yet another night watch to start. As mentioned earlier we are running our boat in a two watch system, which means half the crew is at any point in time working to run...
Its only the second race day of the race, but already we had to experience the pains and the gains a spinnaker sail. The spinnaker- the largest sail we have on board - is used as a thin downwind sail. It flies at the front like a kite. Imagine a giant triangular...
A hectic day comes to an end, and what a day it was! An early start to do the last cleaning on the boat. By 8am the skippers arrived to do final check, then blessing of the boat, followed by the individual crew presentation/ introduction. We were the last ones to hit...