SOS Ocean Racing - 24 hours out of Airlie and a record

by SOS Ocean Racing on 15 Jun 2010 SOS Ocean Racing is just 168nm from home and completing the fastest ever solo circumnavigation of Australia.

Speaking to Ian at 16:00 Tuesday he stated 'I have a plan to arrive home at 16:00 tomorrow so that means I am in my last 24 hours of this epic journey. Unlike Jessica Watson who waited for a weekend to maximise exposure, I am waiting for my mum. Mum flies in at 13:30 and hence I will wait until she gets on a boat and out onto the water before I finish. However with 168nm to go, I still have my work cut out keeping the seven knot average required to get to the finish at 4pm. As long as the wind stays up I'll be fine.'

Ian Thomson set off to circumnavigate Australia solo on May 5th which means he will have spent six weeks at sea. Unfortunately his attempt to have the record non-stop unassisted fell apart in Sydney when he had to stop to fix power issues; however he is still going to smash the circumnavigation record by 26 days if he arrives tomorrow. This is a major achievement for Ian who said it was his 'dream' to sail around Australia.

Waiting in Airlie Beach will be the Wednesday night racing crews as they start at 16:30, so a 16:00 finish would be perfect. Ian said 'I know they are going to want me to join them but it is time to get off this boat and get on land and start celebrating with friends and family.'

Asked if he will launch another attempt on the non stop-unassisted record, Ian said 'Not at this stage. I have learnt that life is too short to spend massive amounts of time on your own. In fact it is time to stop being a single larrikin and settle down. I even have thoughts of bringing a sailor into this world, well any kid of mine will sail, and this is a massive change from when I left. And I also need to put some weight back on.'

Ian also said he has a major announcement to make on arrival back in Airlie so we can look forward to that.

SOS Ocean Racing would also like to thank our media supporters, in particular Sail-world.com for publishing articles regularly, the Whitsunday Times who have covered Ian's campaign from well before he crossed the start line and finally Zinc FM Mackay & Whitsundays (Scotty & Teagues Breakfast Show) who have spoken to Ian every second day since the start of the Southern Ocean.

These three media outlets have helped to spread the word on plastic bags and as Ian said ' that is awesome for me and my campaign.'

SOS Ocean Racing stands for Save Our Seas and Ian's entire campaign is about raising awareness for the damage plastic bags are doing to our environment, in particular the marine environment where they are killing in excess of 100,000 marine animals every year as well as over 1 million sea birds. Ian encourages people to use green bags and gives a hint that the best thing you can do is not to put them in your kitchen drawer when you have unpacked your shopping but rather put them in the boot of your car so they are with you when you go shopping next.

There is still time to vote in Ian's online poll. Visit www.sosoceanracing.com for details about his campaign.