A bit of sad news. We had hoped to set off from Antigua to the UK in May, but we have postponed our expedition until December 2025. We will return to our original east-to-west route from mainland Europe or the Canary Islands to Antigua.
We delayed our trip last autumn and moved our route from east to west due to problems with our paint system and our original gelcoat, which has turned porous. Unfortunately, those problems continued, but we applied five new layers of primer and three coats of two-pack top coat through outside temperatures as low as minus six. We have been waiting for a finishing specialist to complete the polishing/repairs and hope they can finish their work soon so we can start bolting on our hardware and windows.
The ocean takes no prisoners, and learning from sailors before us, like Crowhurst, it is only too important to ensure that Poppet and her crew are one hundred present and ready for the Atlantic Ocean.
Our crew are exhausted but committed to finishing Poppet and getting ready for a ‘splash’ launch in June. We hope to take Poppet to the Seawork exhibition in Southampton and then launch in the few weeks afterwards for initial sea trails. We’ll then carry out a summer of training and modifications whilst using every opportunity to fundraise at local and national events for our charities, represent further, and thank our patent sponsors.
We’ll release more news and updates over the next few days and weeks, including a quick video tour of Poppet.
If you can help us, please get in touch:
Personal Sponsors: www.gofundme.com/f/sofatosailboat
Please donate to our Charities: www.sofatosailboat.co.uk/donate
Corporate Sponsors: www.sofatosailboat.co.uk/sponsor-information
Skipper – 09/MARCH/2025
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