Team Sapphire News “Smiles expo”
As you all know, for a couple of years now, Christophe has been sailing for the charity organization Smiles which is an organization in UCH St Pierre in Brussels taking care of children infected with HIV. Christophe and his boat called Five Oceans of Smiles too are sailing all the oceans of the world as ambassador for the Smiles children and for all the children of the world.
When participating in the VELUX 5 OCEANS race Christophe came up with the idea to reunite all the children of the world by their drawings. At the moment Team Sapphire is working on contacting charity organizations, schools,… all over the world to spread the word and mobilize the children to start drawing.
We need your help !!! if you have contacts anywhere in the world, please spread the word and ask the children you know to make a drawing. Feel free to contact the people or organizations you know yourself or inform us of any ideas or contacts you have and we can follow up. (els@atlantic60.eu)
Several expositions will be organized over the coming months. 4 drawings will be chosen to be made as sticker and will be put on the hull of Five Oceans of Smiles too. Those drawings will sail the oceans with Christophe.
Drawings can be sent to :
- Els Vandermeulen Dokter Jan Appelmanslaan 76A, 1700 Dilbeek in Belgium
- Emilie Penninckx Chaussée d’Alsemberg 947, 1180 Uccle in Belgium
Or scanned by e-mail to els@atlantic60.eu or Emilie@atlantic60.eu
Please mention name of the child, age, organization or address and Country. You can also add some info about the work you are doing with children; we will make sure that people visiting the expo get to know your organization.
“by Pascal Habousha” “by Ainhoa Sanchez VELUX 5 Oceans”
Team Sapphire News 13/02/2011
After talking to the racecomittee and the skippers of the VELUX 5 OCEANS it was decided that the best thing for Christophe and Five Oceans of Smiles too is to come home. Sailing to Punta del Este and use the remaining leg was rejected as a plan, this was already tried in the past and it has lead to a lot of confusion for the website followers. All is well on board, the repairs that were made in Cape Town make the difference. At the moment they are sailing downwind, Five Oceans of Smiles remains dry inside, and is now a pleasure to live in. Christophe is really pleased with the sailing capacities of the boat ! She is faster and behaving better.
Yesterday, Team Sapphire was present at the Yachting Awards Ceremony, unfortunately Christophe, who was one of the four nominees, was Read more
Team Sapphire News 06/02/2011
Christophe and Five Oceans of Smiles too finaly left Cape Town this morning for South America. They have an extra crew on board. Emilie has taken the opportunity to make this nice transat with Christophe. Once in South America, Christophe will continue solo.
You can daily follow their progress on www.atlantic60.eu.
While in Cape Town, Christophe has taken the time to do a lot of work on the boat. About 10 days ago, Michel Desjoyaux Read more
Team Sapphire News 09/01/2010
As promised I send you further news about Christophe and Five Oceans of Smiles too who are still in Cape Town awaiting the repairs. The mast has been repaired and the rudders should be ready next week. They have been enforced and will have new laser cut attachments that will make life for the autopilot and the skipper easier. By the end of the month all the repairs should be finished and beginning of February Christophe will leave Cape Town and head for Punta Del Este, where he will join the rest of the VELUX 5 OCEANS fleet. He will sail along with Brad, Derek, Gutek and Chris and accompany them to Charlestown & La Rochelle. Christophe will be sailing the 2 last legs of the race as an early training for his participation to the next edition of the VELUX 5 OCEANS in 2014.
“Christophe in his new habitat”
Article : Vlaamse zeiler botst met walvis
site : http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=GLV34LDBV
‘Ik heb nog geprobeerd foto’s te nemen van de walvis die tegen mijn boot was gebotst maar de zee dreef vol bloed’, zegt Vlaamse zeiler Christophe Bullens (49). Hij had zoveel tegenslag tijdens de Velux 5 Oceans Race dat hij uit de zeilwedstrijd rond de wereld moest stappen. PAULDEMEYER
De botsing met de walvis gebeurde tussen de Kaapverdische Eilanden (waar de zeiler op doktersbevel moest recupereren van een veel te hoge koorts) en Zuid-Afrika. ‘Het was in de vooravond. Ik zat in de kajuit. Op mijn computer bekeek ik de weersverwachtingen voor de volgende dagen. Dan plots: Bang! Alsof je met je auto met volle snelheid tegen een muur rijdt.’
Echt bang geworden
‘Ik liep onmiddellijk het dek op, waar ik de walvis zag weg zwemmen. Hij stootte een zee van bloed uit. Hij was zeker tien meter lang, net iets kleiner dan mijn boot. Op de boot heb ik inderdaad een radarsysteem maar dat ziet alleen maar objecten boven het waterniveau. Een walvis in de zee is voor die radar onzichtbaar. Komt daarbij dat ik snel voer: 25 km per uur. Tegen die snelheid is het moeilijk iets te ontwijken.’ Read more
Team Sapphire News 03/01/2010
As planned Christophe left Cape Town on sundaymorning at 6 am, weather was good but bad when hoisting the mainsail, the track came of again taking part of the carbon mast. The result is a hole in the mast which means a carbon repair needs to be done. Since the mast needs to be taken down, the carbon repair made this will take some time and Christophe and Five Oceans of Smiles too will not make it in time for the start of the tird leg in Wellington. Below you will find a letter from Christophe in english and in french he wants to share with you.
Letter from Christophe
I start writing this letter with tears in my eyes but I know it will end with a smile, because that is how it should be. All the problems encountered have beaten me and my boat and prevent me from continuing. Unfortunately I have no other choice than withdraw from the race. It is not reasonable, and even dangerous to Read more
CHRISTOPHE BULLENS RETIRES FROM VELUX 5 OCEANS AFTER FURTHER BREAKAGES
Belgian singlehander praised for tenacity and determination in pursuit of The Ultimate Solo Challenge
BELGIAN solo sailor Christophe Bullens has been left with no choice but to retire from the VELUX 5 OCEANS following a string of technical problems onboard his yacht. After a catalogue of breakages and equipment failures the final straw came just an hour after setting sail from Cape Town for the third time when the mast track onboard Five Oceans of Smiles too ripped out for the second time.