The 2013 Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing sailing race has the wind beneath its sails in more ways than one - this year, Green Mountain Energy is proud to be an official energy sponsor and offset provider of the United States' premier Class 40 race! Skipper of the Green Mountain-sponsored yacht, Joe Harris, will be reporting from the stern sharing his experiences on the water before and after the race. Here's his look ahead toward setting sail later this week.
My name is Joe Harris, and I am the skipper of the sailing vessel GryphonSolo2 (“GS2”), which will be competing in the upcoming Atlantic Cup yacht race. I have been competing in offshore single and double-handed events for about 15 years in a series of boats, but was lucky enough to build a new Akilaria RC2 Class 40 in 2011 that is truly state-of-the-art and wicked fast!
We are now looking ahead to the Atlantic Cup, which will set sail on May 11th out of Charleston, SC. We are very excited to be working this year with Green Mountain Energy Company, the nation's longest serving competitive renewable energy retailer, and the sponsor of the GS2. But our boat isn't the only one benefiting from Green Mountain's sponsorship this year: they're the official energy sponsor and carbon offset provider for the entire 2013 Cup. The Green Mountain logo will fly proudly on GS2’s sails and we are looking forward to producing a good result for our new sponsor.
GS2 is a 2011 Marc Lombard-designed Akilari RC2, and after two seasons of racing, I think we finally have her up to speed. I think it's fair to say that any of the seven boats have a shot at winning, as the subtle differences in raw boatspeed are outweighed by routing choices and each sailor's ability to coax maximum performance out of their boat over long distances. The skippers are an experienced group, so my hunch is that the racing will be extremely close and the win will go to the crew that makes the fewest mistakes.
Stay tuned for more thoughts as the race approaches, and daily blogs from offshore.
Cheers,
Joe
For more updates on the Atlantic Cup visit http://atlanticcup.org. And you can find an in-depth look at Joe’s expectations for the race,at http://www.gryphonsolo2.com/.
Best of luck to all racers!
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