Fierce Antarctic storms force adventurer to head home

ADVENTURER Hannah McKeand (pictured), who was raised in Watchet, where her mother still lives, has told how she was forced to abandon her most recent Antarctic exploits.
Hannah, aged 33, who now lives in Newbury, was attempting to sail from Hobart, Tasmania, to Commonwealth Bay and Cape Denison, an isolated spot on the coast of King George V Land, which is known as the windiest place in the world.
On the way, she would have passed the Magnetic South Pole, currently located on the ocean.
The journey was being made on a 20-metre, schooner-rigged, aluminium, expedition sailing yacht Blizzard owned by Hannah and partner David Pryce, who is a master mariner. They had a crew of 10.
But almost from the start of the five-week adventure they were hit by terrific storms peaking with 100-knot waves smashing into their yacht.
One of the crew was knocked overboard after the force of the storm broke the three steel lifelines.
He was quickly rescued from the sea, the temperature of which was just 2.6 degrees C, but suffered hypothermia.
Then, the prop shaft pulled out of the hull, damage which could only be repaired by taking the boat out of the water.
Without the ability to manoeuvre through pack ice and into and out of anchorage, Hannah was forced to turn the boat around and head back to Tasmania just 24 days into the adventure.
“We have had some rotten luck on this trip,” said Hannah in her log. “We know and accept that this is an incredibly hard journey to be trying to make.
“Strangely however, since we turned for home the weather has become calm and benign.”
Hannah and David have founded a new high latitude sailing company called Blizzard Expeditions which up to 10 people can join as an integral member of the team, sleeping in shared cabins and sharing responsibility for all aspects of sailing and logistics, and being rewarded with a truly intimate experience with the landscape and wildlife of the deep south.
More information is available from the website www.blizzardexpeditions.com.

In December, Hannah became the fastest person to walk alone and unsupported to the geographic South Pole, making the 690-mile trek in 39 days, nine hours, and 33 minutes - almost two days faster than the previous record, also held by a British woman.

• Photos of Hannah McKeand (top) and her aborted sailing expedition to the Antarctic courtesy of her websites.

Round the world yacht race challenge for Tiina

WEST Somerset schools project co-ordinator Tiina Huovinen (pictured) is set for the adventure of a lifetime after being selected to take part in the world’s longest ocean yachting race.
Tiina, 33, who works with the West Somerset Strategic Partnership, will compete in the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race.
She heard about the race from a past competitor.
Tiina said: “I have done some sailing before, but nothing like this. I thought it sounded like just the sort of challenge I would like to take on, so I applied.
“I am looking forward to learning new sailing skills and the mental challenge of finding out what I can cope with.
“I am keen to win, but it is also about your own personal experience and doing the best you can.”
Tiina, who is originally from Finland, will set out on the last two legs of the Clipper 07-08 with a crew of people from all walks of life.
Together, they will race through the Panama Canal, and on towards the finish in Liverpool.
It’s still not too late for others to apply to take part in the race. And Tiina, whose job involves co-ordinating a learning partnership strategy for schools in West Somerset, said: “I would encourage others to take on something like this.”
Competitors receive intensive training before they race across thousands of miles of ocean aboard 68-foot yachts.
Crew members take turns to cook, clean, and carry out repairs, as well as sail the yachts.
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race was established a decade ago by highly-respected sailor Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, currently racing solo around the world in the VELUX 5 OCEANS event.
He was keen for amateur sailors to experience the adventure and rewards of ocean racing, previously only enjoyed by the privileged and the professional.
Sir Robin said: “Tiina will be joining more than 1,400 people who have made the Clipper experience a turning point in their lives.
“We want people to finish the race thinking that it is the best thing they have ever done.”
Anybody over the age of 18 years can enter, and there is no upper age limit. Competitors who have already signed up for the race - 40 per cent of whom have not had previous sailing experience - include a vicar, a housewife, and a postman.
The Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race starts from Liverpool, in September, and lasts 10 months and takes in 35,000 miles of ocean racing.
The overall race is divided into seven legs and a total of 15 individual races.
Points are accumulated according to each race position, and the yacht with the highest total at the finish (Liverpool, 2008) wins the race trophy.For more information on applying to become a crew member in the sixth Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, contact Clipper Ventures on 02392 526000 or email crew recruitment manager David Cusworth at dcusworth@clipper-ventures.com.

Photo submitted.

Antarctic walk record for Watchet-raised woman

WATCHET-raised Hannah McKeand (pictured) has become the fastest person to walk alone and unsupported to the geographic South Pole.
She made the 690-mile trek in 39 days, nine hours, and 33 minutes – almost two days faster than the previous record, also held by a British woman.
Hannah, aged 33, who now lives in Newbury, hauled a 100kg sledge from Hercules Inlet, on the edge of Antarctica, to the Amundsen-Scott Research Station, which marks the Pole.
She said: “I have been here before and loved the place - I wanted to visit and spend more time here.
“The record was never my primary goal for the expedition, but to have set it is incredible - the icing on the cake.”
During the expedition, Hannah lost three stone in weight on a diet of chocolate, dried fruit and nuts, salami, Kendal mint cake, and pork scratchings – and fudge cake as her only luxury.
Hannah became a full-time adventurer two years ago after working as a theatre marketing manager, and she dedicated her South Pole expedition to a close friend, Jill Fraser, who died of breast cancer earlier in 2006.
Donations to her expedition charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer can be made by logging onto the website www.justgiving.com/southpole.
She hoped her exploits would also help to encourage and inspire other people to achieve their own dreams.
Hannah has previously explored deserts in North Africa, visited villages in the remote Hindu Kush mountain range of Afghanistan, and competed in the 2005 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
Within the next month she will embark on a sailing challenge from Tasmania to the South Magnetic Pole, accompanied by her partner David Pryce, a master mariner.
Photo submitted.