start -4 hrs
19 February 2024
It’s the morning of the RORC Caribbean 600 Race here! All quiet on the docks, except for the divers polishing our hull. It’s going to be a slower race, with the wind forecasted to drop off by Wednesday morning as it gets sucked into a low developing up north. So we will be thankful for the clean bottom!
We started 59º North Offshore Racing as a branch out from 59º North’s flagship product of offshore passages—because we all felt it was a no-brainer to combine my (Nikki’s) experience and passion for racing with the 59º North family and brand, so we can share this amazing side of sailing. Offshore racing can—like sailing itself—be elitist. 59º North Offshore Racing is all about opening doors. We’re opening the racing door to the wider sailing community by offering a significant amount of training before the race in order to train the crew up so that they are safe and competent against the rest of the fleet, who are mostly fully pro teams.
I put amateur in inverted commas because that’s at the beginning! It’s amazing to see how this crew, and all the crews, will develop and learn and grow into a solid team. Cannot wait for the race. Please track us and send us messages. It really feels amazing to know we are not only bringing these nine crew along, but also all of you!
- Nikki
It’s the morning of the RORC Caribbean 600 Race here! All quiet on the docks, except for the divers polishing our hull. It’s going to be a slower race, with the wind forecasted to drop off by Wednesday morning as it gets sucked into a low developing up north. So we will be thankful for the clean bottom!
We started 59º North Offshore Racing as a branch out from 59º North’s flagship product of offshore passages—because we all felt it was a no-brainer to combine my (Nikki’s) experience and passion for racing with the 59º North family and brand, so we can share this amazing side of sailing. Offshore racing can—like sailing itself—be elitist. 59º North Offshore Racing is all about opening doors. We’re opening the racing door to the wider sailing community by offering a significant amount of training before the race in order to train the crew up so that they are safe and competent against the rest of the fleet, who are mostly fully pro teams.
I put amateur in inverted commas because that’s at the beginning! It’s amazing to see how this crew, and all the crews, will develop and learn and grow into a solid team. Cannot wait for the race. Please track us and send us messages. It really feels amazing to know we are not only bringing these nine crew along, but also all of you!
- Nikki
NikkiHenderson
View more passage logs
Hat overboard!
On June 4, we reviewed our passage plan before our departure from the marina in Hjellested.
Departure from Bergen!
The crew on the women’s sail training on Isbjorn is settling into a great routine for managing the boat and life onboard.
The sun sets on another journey
The hardest part of sailing across French Polynesia wasn't the night watches, the heat, or the open ocean — it was the prospect of being trapped on a small boat with a group of strangers. First-timer Natalie boards as a self-described land crab and discovers that the sea has a way of reshaping both your sea legs and your assumptions. What follows is dolphins, sharks, the Milky Way in full technicolour, and a crew that somehow made the whole thing better than she ever imagined.