Today was supposed to be the start of the Global Solo Challenge effort for Ronnie Simpson and his Elvstrøm Sails-powered “Shipyard Brewing”, but due to harsh weather conditions, the skippers in the start have decided to postpone their starts.

Whilst the Global Solo Challenge organizers state, some may leave from A Coruña, Spain, tonight - others probably wait for tomorrow. None the less, it’s a good time to check in and get a final update before the start from Ronnie Simpson.

Simpson has finished weeks of busy preparations for the race, fixing all sorts of smaller and larger jobs plus the all important fitting of the livery on “Shipyard Brewing” and her sails.

- The final preps have been very busy, including branding the sails and the boat, complying with all the safety rules of the GSC, boat setup and tuning, and of course getting provisions and organizing it all. We have also added a wind generator and another backup autopilot drive. A Coruña is a great place, but unfortunately, we have seen lots of bad weather over the last two and a half weeks, which has been very rainy and windy - creating another obstacle to overcome for us all.

Ronnie and Shipyard Brewing are starting in the biggest class of the race. Seven in total are going to battle it out in the Open 50 class, making it for an interesting race, Ronnie Simpson says:

- The group of skippers for this weekend's start all have very different backgrounds, different boats and unique approaches to the start. So it will be quite interesting to see how it all plays out. But there are some very good sailors in this group and some well prepared boats. It should be an interesting race.

He adds:
- It's exciting to be this close to the start, but it's also been a ton of work and very stressful. I am looking forward to a nice voyage and just hoping that everything goes well. The weather looks extremely challenging in leaving A Coruña, with gale force head winds and very large seas. I am just trying to get out of here and keep the boat in one piece, and then the race will really start once I get out of Spain and get south a bit to better weather.

You can follow the Global Solo Challenge on www.globalsolochallenge.com.