NEWS
AGX - Mission Accomplished
Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:05:30 +0000

The final Broadly Boats Special in the Alpha Global Expedition series is now available as a free download from: tinyurl.com/59vkxp The book “Over The Top” by Adrian Flanagan will be launched by Orion in October 2008. bb.firetrench.com ftnews.firetrench.com agx.firetrench.com nighthawk.firetrench.com ftd.firetrench.com

The Tall Ships’ Races 2008 got off to a flying start
Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:56:11 +0000

HMS Mersey will be following the fleet. Above, earlier this year when HMS Mersey welcomed first vertical (bi-polar) cirumnavigator Adrian Flanagan back to British waters after his transit of the Russian Northern Sea Route The Tall Ships’ Races 2008 got off to a flying start yesterday as the race got under way just off the northern [...]

Alpha Global meets Exercise Midnight Sun
Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:36:54 +0000

pictured left to right: Mark Giles, Andy Whitmore, Adrian, Paul Molyneux and Warren Beresford On Wednesday Adrian & Louise met with four members of the Territorial Army who are taking part in Exercise Midnight Sun which is the Royal Signals TA expedition to Greenland, one of the planets last great unspoilt wildernesses, in August 2008. The [...]

FAVOURITE PICTURES
Sat, 31 May 2008 14:18:40 +0000

We’ve finally made it home after 2 weeks on the Hamble. And what an incredibly memorable 2 weeks they have been. Of the many hundreds of pictures taken on the 21st May, these are two we particularly like. The family portrait is taken by our good friend Tina Hadley, the other by Sara Coombes [...]

AGX - PHOTOS
Mon, 26 May 2008 12:01:06 +0000

Below are a selection of family photos taken over the past couple of days - please feel free to use them. For publication purposes, a photo credit will suffice (Louise Flanagan) Reading The Times at breakfast on Thursday morning!

AGX - PHOTOS
Mon, 26 May 2008 11:55:02 +0000

Below are a selection of family photos taken over the past couple of days - please feel free to use them. For publication purposes, a photo credit will suffice (Louise Flanagan)    

THE DREAM CAME TRUE
Mon, 26 May 2008 11:35:57 +0000

  The smile that said it all - (photo - Louise Flanagan) The Alpha Global Expedition ended at 11.00am on Wednesday 21st May when Barrabas crossed the start / finish line between Calshot Spit and Hillhead in the Solent. Adrian Flanagan became the first single-handed sailor to achieve a ‘vertical’ circumnavigation of the earth. Below, in [...]

Thanks for a wonderful welcome home
Wed, 21 May 2008 15:13:37 +0000

Adrian and Louise wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who have helped to make this voyage of circumnavigation possible, to those who sent messages of support as Adrian prepared to sail away, to those who wrote and emailed during the trip, to all of those who came to make the conclusion such [...]

AGX Homecoming
Wed, 21 May 2008 10:08:15 +0000

Anyone wishing to rendezvous with Adrian at sea made their way to the EAST BRAMBLE MARK (50 47.2 N, 1 13.7 E) between 9:30am and 10:00am today. Spectators Spectators were able to watch Adrian as he proceeded up the River Hamble between 10:00am and 11:00am. Viewing from either the Hamble or Warsash side of the [...]

Full Day Ahead
Wed, 21 May 2008 08:30:57 +0000

Today will be a very full day for Adrian Flanagan as he ends a unique voyage - an outstanding achievement. Perhaps the final course chosen was a gentle build up to today. Originally, Adrian considered leaving Norway and heading South and West around the Shetlands and the Scottish islands, along the West coast of Ireland and [...]


Over The Top
News Archive

  • 17 November 2006 - REFLECTIONS
    I often think back over the 26,000 miles that my boat, Barrabas and I travelled together...
     
  • 22 September 2006 - Home at last
    It's bye-bye Nome and hello home - well at least for the next nine months.
     
  • 17 September 2006 - Barrabas earns her 9 month rest
    The boat, now bereft of sails, rig and deck gear is due to be lifted on Sunday.
     
  • 11 September 2006 - AGX on hold till next year

    It is often so much harder to make the decision not to go on, but there is little merit in entertaining unnecessary risk.

  • 8 September 2006 - Russians say 'yes', but is it too late?
    I will continue liaison with Moscow and make a final decision over the weekend.
     
  • 5 September 2006 - The politics continue
    After over 25,000 miles and 10 months at sea, the outcome of this whole expedition could unbelievably boil down to one piece of paper.
     
  • 30 August 2006 - Visa problems jeopardize AGX

    So, I wait with increasing anxiety as with each hour a great opportunity becomes progressively shaved.

  • 14 August 2006 - Barrabas is lifted and Adrian discovers electric clothing
    "This is what I do," Jerry said, his excitement hampering his efforts to don the jacket. Then, finding the end of the cable, he shoved it into a near-by 12volt socket.
     
  • 11 August 2006 - Broadly Boats Special - part 2
    To read 'Riding the Dragon', part 2 of a 3 part Alpha Global Expedition Special by Broadly Boats please click here.
    (Part 1 'Sailing the Dream' can be found in the May 29 posting in our news pages).
     
  • 9 August 2006 - Adrian arrives in Nome
    Nome is a real melting pot of old and new, an ethnic jamboree of Inuit and Caucasian, Chinese and African, of systems and styles both ancient and modern.
     
  • 2 August 2006 - A murderous storm
    I braced myself in the cockpit and watched in fascinated horror as Barrabas was thrown over, green water rushing over the afterdeck. 
     
  • 28 July 2006 - DHL to the rescue .... again
    With critical spares awaiting my arrival in Nome, valuable time will be saved and thus the prospect of sailing the Northern Sea Route kept alive.
     
  • 24 July 2006 - Aleutian challenge
    I feel like a leopard hunkered down in the long grass stealthily inching forwards. My mission is to steal past the islands without being noticed lest their watery tongues lick me in towards their rocky jaws.
     
  • 18 July 2006 - The clock ticks loudly
    Barrabas is injured and the problem could spell the end of any attempt to transit the Arctic this season.
     
  • 10 July 2006 - The thermals come out.
    I am already sheathed in two layers of thermals, gloves, woolly hat, and thick socks..
     
  • 4 July 2006 - Storms and injuries
    As the boom went over and the sheet began to tighen, it gripped my right arm and shoulder and bodily lifted me from the cockpit.
     
  • 27 June 2006 - The music that keeps Adrian company
    When I need pumping up, there is one number that never fails to deliver
    - Bon Jovi's 'It's My Life'...'I just want to live while I'm alive...'
     
  • 24 June 2006 - Adrian tip-toes past the dragon
    The sky is blue, the sea calm. But this is a dangerous area. The typhoon (translated from Chinese to mean "Great Wind") season has begun.
     
  • 20 June 2006 - Adrian has sailed the circumference of the earth.
    Yesterday at 1900 UCT (7 in the evening UK time), I logged 21,600 miles - this is the distance  around the circumference of the earth!!!
     
  • 19 June 2006 - Navigation - the old fashioned way.
    I am somewhere in the north eastern Pacific, south east of Japan - precisely where, I cannot be certain. My hesitation is because I am now navigating by means of a sextant and the sun, moon, stars and planets.
     
  • 13 June 2006 - Fever and cruise ship envy
    I've gone through a bit of a bad patch health wise in the last week.
     
  • 9 June 2006 - 20,000 miles under his belt
    On Tuesday 6th June at ten to eight in the evening local time, my odometer clicked over to 20,000 miles.
     
  • 7 June 2006 - NEW! Voyage Gallery!
    Thanks to Adrian's stopover in Hawaii we were able to gather incredible images from his voyage so far. See them!
     
  • 4 June 2006 - Fancy an Atlantic Row?
    Our friend Roz Savage set out from the Canaries to row single-handedly 3000 miles across the Atlantic. She arrived in Antigua 103 days later, on March 13 this year. She writes today's dispatch.
     
  • 29 May 2006 - A race against time
    Not since I set off on the Alpha Global Expedition have I felt as pressured as I do now.
     
  • 29 May 2006 - Various news pieces to enjoy
    Since leaving the UK in October 2005, Adrian Flanagan and the Alpha Global Expedition have generated media interest all over the world.
     
  • 25 May 2006 - Lamplight soothes the fear
    The light flickers over the cabin - warm, cozy, homely. Every moment I am out here danger is my neighbour and fear is my shadow. I worry constantly of the threats around me.
     
  • 21 May 2006 - The wonders of fresh water.
    Three full days out of Honolulu and I am beginning to pick up the rhythms of the sea once again.
     
  • 18 May 2006 - Goodbye island paradise
    Adrian Flanagan has now left Hawaii and is sailing in good trade winds towards Japan.
     
  • 11 May 2006 - Hawaii arrival in Adrian's own words
    Finally, the moment arrived to step down from Barrabas’s deck and onto land. I found myself suddenly reluctant to leave Barrabas, a sense that I was abandoning her that for several moments I hesitated. 
     
  • 9 May 2006 - Adrian arrives in Hawaii
    Adrian receives an incredible welcome as he steps off Barrabas for the first time in 193 days.
     
  • 4 May 2006 - Mast damage forces Adrian to stop in Hawaii
    Adrian is now forced to stop for several days in Oahu so that essential work can be carried out to fix his mast.
     
  • 03 May 2006 - Hawaian welcome awaits
    Adrian is now under 500 miles away from Honolulu, Hawaii. Conditions are slow. He is hardly moving.
     
  • 27 April 2006 - What's baking? Some clothes and a sailor!
    Adrian describes the current crazy sea state and takes us on a guided tour of Barrabas.
     
  • 21 April 2006 - DHL carry the load
    Finally my sitting room has lost its warehouse feel as I took Adrian's supplies to sponsors DHL this morning.
     
  • 19 April 2006 - In the doldrums in more ways than one
    Adrian dreams of 5 star hotels and sees the first sign of human life for 3 months!
     
  • 17th April 2006 - 2000 miles to Hawaii
    Adrian is back in the northern hemisphere and in the calm waters of the doldrums again.
     
  • 13 April 2006 - Adrian tries out a new ocean
    On the morning of the 10th April, Adrian crossed the equator (again) and sailed in to the North Pacific.
     
  • 10 April 2006 - Dancing dolphins and lazy days
    Today we received an update from Dubai where Expedition Manager Louise is taking a well deserved break with the children.
     
  • 5 April 2006 - The fastest month yet
    Have you checked out the new Position Maps? Today there is a message from Adrian.
     
  • 31 March 2006 - Easy sailing
    No news is good news.
     
  • 26 March 2006 - Recipe for 'Barrabas Pancake'
    Adrian discusses his food cravings and attempts to add 'hunter' to his list of new found skills
     
  • 23 March 2006 - Adrian discovers a kindred spirit and an unexpected supper
    I finally finished reading the authorised biography of T E Lawrence - all 1000 pages of it.
     
  • 19 March 2006 - First deck bath in 8 weeks!
    Newly squeaky clean - Adrian contemplates his diet
     
  • 15 March 2006 - Big decisions
    Heading for supply drop in Honolulu
     
  • 11 March 2006 - Having a whale of a time
    So this is where Robinson Crusoe was ...
     
  • 8 March 2006 - Laundry dilemma but sunny days ahead.
    I broke through the psychologically important latitude of 40 degrees south on Monday at 2345.
     
  • 7 March 2006 - Grey away
    Adrian has reported his first blue sky in many weeks. Even the sea was a new blue.
     
  • 3 March 2006 - Close to the action
    As I write, Cape Horn is being blasted with 70mph winds and 10m waves. The Chilean coastguard has been in regular contact with me,  monitoring my position.