Well into the start of our competition year, we’ve made strides in preparing ourselves for the open seas. Training continues with plenty of sessions on the rowing machines, but nothing quite beats spending time on the water, now possible thanks to some huge milestones.
Due to the amazing team at Indigo Marine, our faithful Rannoch 45 has been adorned with the logos from our treasured sponsors, our charity partners and the Mermaid icon diving into the sea across the bow. Seeing our names lined up on the keel makes it feel very real and with eight and a half months till we launch from La Gomera the countdown is most definitely on!
To relaunch the boat into the sea we performed a formal ceremony to rename the boat ‘Mermaid’, including an ode to Poseidon in accordance with folklore amongst seafarers. Manni’s daughter took on the important role of naming the boat, while the pouring and swigging of Mermaid Gin was left to us crew as a sacrifice to ensure calm seas and fine weather for our adventure across the Atlantic. Someone’s got to do the honours after all!
As Xav so perfectly said, we’re hugely grateful to all our sponsors who have donated kit and funds to get us to this point. Now the boat is looking brilliant, we’re excited to be on the water and ready to crack on with training! We want to extend our thanks to all those who have supported us, whether you’ve dropped us a like on social media, bought us a meal or two for the adventure, or donated to the causes of our incredible charities, your generosity helps to push us along and train harder for the challenge of a lifetime.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can support the crew please visit our sponsorship page, or to donate to our charity partners visit our donation page.
Mermaid Atlantic 