SPEED RECORD
I depart from Tofino, BC, Canada on July 1st which is only 6 1/2 months from now and I will pedal my human powered boat WiTHiN to the Hawaiian Islands. My goal is to become the first person to travel from Canada to Hawaii under my own power, and the first person to travel to Hawaii from the North American continent by pedal power (solo).
I first conceived of this project over 3 years ago – here’s the original blog post:
Original idea:
http://www.adventuresofgreg.com/HPVlog/09-27-06.html
Original design concept:
http://www.adventuresofgreg.com/HPB/09-13-06.html
Back then, my objective was to break the Atlantic ocean rowing record of 43 days. Due to some logistical issues, I changed my mind on the proposed route and thought that Vancouver Island to Hawaii would be cool because it’s a route that has never been human powered before – it would be a a world first. Also, nobody has ever sailed a pedal powered boat from the North American continent to Hawaii solo, so that is also a first. Since we have spent so much effort on making WiTHiN as efficient and fast as possible, I also think it is possible to set a human powered passage speed record.
The fastest average speed for a solo human powered ocean passage is 3218 km across the North Atlantic ocean in 40 days by Dwight Collins in 1992. This averages out to 80.45 km per day.
My route is about 4400 km, so for me to break Dwight’s speed record, I would need to make it to Hawaii in less than 54.7 days. I think that is possible. That would break down to about 13.5 hours per day at an overall average speed of 6 km/hour. If I can maintain 7 km/hour average including currents and wind assistance, then that would be 11.5 hours per day.
Shown below is a screen dump from my sponsor Passage Planner software – a super nifty pilot chart data software for planning a passage. I can see the average winds, waves, temperatures, etc for any month – anywhere in the world. It also optimizes a route based on the parameters of your boat, departure month, average wind speed & direction, and currents.
Whew! It’s going to be tough, but I think it is doable.
Sponsorship
Originally, it was my intention to find a major title sponsor for Pedaltheocean, but due to the economy and not wanting to invest too much of my time and resources into a search, there is still an opportunity for some company to gain some pretty good exposure for their brand.
A major sponsor would benefit from some prominent exposure on the expedition boat, premium placement on the Pedaltheocean.com web site, my adventuresofgreg.com blog, exposure through my corporate keynote presentations, branded clothing during press opportunities, complimentary speaking engagements, etc. Basically, I am open to discussing what ever a major sponsor might like to accomplish with a relationship with Pedaltheocean.com. And the price is negotiable as well.
As far as exposure goes, it is difficult to guarantee anything, but currently I am working on a Discovery Channel show, getting news of the expedition into Outside magazine, and I would imagine that once the expedition gets under way, I would receive similar press coverage that other ocean rowers from north America got – like CNN, Newspaper headlines around the globe, daytime and evening talk shows, and the list goes on and on… I really do think that an investment into this project would pay off for a major sponsor.
Currently, I am offering 5 smaller sponsorship packages:
Large logo on expedition boat and home page of the PTO web site
$1000 Gold Sponsoship
Medium logo on expedition boat and web site
$400 Silver Sponsorship
Small logo on expedition boat and web site
$250 Bronze Sponsorship
Logo on expedition boat, and web site.
$200 Across with Greg Donation
Your name on the expedition boat, plus a $200 donation in your behalf to Kimberlees Bikes for Kids charity which will provide 4 bikes for 4 underprivileged kids!
If you can see your company benefiting from a major sponsorship with PTO, or any of the smaller opportunities, then please contact me and let me know how I can help you achieve your brand exposure goals! greg@pedaltheocean.com
DD on December 14, 2009
It might be useful knowledge for your assist boat to have precision wind and current analysis equipment to compare with your own data and the averages from the satellites or other ocean craft. Your journey may include 1 million pedal strokes or 100 million*, depending on actual local wind/current.
“Use the force, Luke.”
You’ve maxed the hydrodynamic design, physical aerobic fitness, nutrition, required rest. Now you’re seeking commercial solvency and social linkage and strength, sensibly
Now optimize the data flow to always stay on the best side of the wind and current.
With that, you can achieve the route even with less than ideal conditions. Without it, you are purely at the mercy of luck and unlikely perfect conditions.
When you came down here to Eureka for your 24 hr ride, conditions were highly controllable.
The Pacific ocean is not controllable.
Repeat.
The Pacific ocean is not controllable.
What is controllable?
Data flow and optimal craft positioning.
The Hawaiian islands aren’t moving anywhere, they are not going to shift north or south simply because that is where your craft is accidentally pointing.
“Listen to the wind, feel the current” is not poetry, it is applied physics.
Seabirds intuitively fly thousands of miles over the ocean, at times just above the waves, they can’t afford inefficiency.
*wild estimate
Stuart on January 13, 2010
A few questions: What is the boat built out of (I suspect carbon fiber?),
and how tough do you think it would be to build one out of wood?
greg on January 13, 2010
Stuart: WiTHiN is carbon fiber and CoreCell foam core. Yes, I think it could be made out of wood.