Premium British marine and lifestyle clothing brand, Henri Lloyd will be supporting British offshore sailor Phil Sharp.
Henri Lloyd will be kitting out Phil and his team, for their Vendée Globe Energy Challenge, when Phil aims to be skipper the first vessel to complete a ‘no emissions’ round the world circumnavigation race solo, non stop and unassisted.
Jersey based Sharp, who won his class in the Solo Route du Rhum race in 2006, establishing himself as one of Britain’s outstanding ocean racing talents, set off from Falmouth today with the objective of setting a first benchmark sailing record from Land’s End to John O’Groats. The 620Nms passage will take Phil and his two crew on their Class40 racing yacht up the Celtic Sea and North Channel, east of Ireland, passing west of the Mull of Kintyre, Jura and Islay (home of sponsors Bruichladdich) before passing inside the Outer Hebrides, turning right at Cape Wrath before the most challenging section along the north coast of Scotland and the notorious Pentland Firth. Sharp believes they will take around 50-60hours, aiming to finish early Monday.
“This is a great opportunity to set a nice record and get some good ‘bite-sized’ training for the Vendée Globe. In a year’s time I should be racing in the Southern Ocean but in the meantime December’s weather on Britain’s exposed Atlantic coast will be extremely challenging.”
“We are all excited to be taking on a new record, not to say a little daunted at the prospect. It is fantastic for me to have the support of Henri Lloyd as a supporter going forwards from here. The next few days will be a great test for me and the clothing, I look forwards to being warm and dry whatever the weather throws at us.”
Sharp is being accompanied on this downwind sprint to the hostile northern waters by boat owner Alex Alley, an experienced ocean racer, and Sean ‘The Beard’ Conway who has already cycled, run and swum from one end of Britain to the other and now aims to add an end to end sail to his unique achievements.
Henri Lloyd will be working very closely with Phil, to select the correct attire for this historic race around the planet. Henri Lloyd’s Ocean Pro range will play a big part in providing protection against the extreme elements that he will encounter.Built to withstand the worst conditions imaginable and perfected across five decades of product and fabric development, the garments will be be-spokely designed and constructed to Phil’s requirements and physique.
Engineered from GORE-TEX® Pro 3 layer fabric with ocean technology, the products incorporate innovative and safety design features to ensure the garments are made to the pinnacle of performance. Features include the Optivision Hood; exclusive to Henri Lloyd the transparent TPU windows allow wider peripheral vision without compromising protection for the face.
“Henri Lloyd is always inspired by solo, offshore sailors and it is a honour to support another pioneer of the ocean”. Paul Strzelecki, Joint CEO Henri Lloyd.
Phil is raising funds for the Brain Tumour Research charity https://www.justgiving.com/PhilSharpRacing/
Follow Phil’s progress on:
Live tracker: www,philsharpracing.com/record-tracker/
Social media: Twitter @Phil_Sharp_ and Facebook philsharpracing
News updates: www.philsharpracing.com