Snoopy the Viking will attempt the Atlantic again, from UK to USA, in his little robot boat.
The "Microtransat Challenge"
is a French idea.
Snoopy's rescue in 2015: See 2015 Attempt and the I-GotU track. Robin thanks the Royal Marines SBS. Beers ? Video on left added.
from Robin: see my Home page, for an introduction to who I am. e.g. the Dr Strangelove video on the right. Love and Strength to All.
See below for the details of Snoopy's UK to USA Atlantic Attempts and testing of Team-Joker's boats for the next.
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Cliquez sur le drapeau français ci-dessus si vous préférez grenouilles et les escargots à Roast Beef :-)
To see use of the translation flags, and translated subtitles on Youtube videos,
Play Video Here
. Videos only play from English pages.
"Hi Guys ! I've lived so many years in Europe, I hope you don't think that I have "gone native".
These clothes were given me by McDonalds, when they gave out clones of me around the World,
and they are appropriate: Vikings were the first to reach American shores,
long before the French or British. I'm looking forward to coming back home to my mother-land of USA,
if and when that idiot Robin succeeds in making me a suitable boat. Sorry about his insistence
in our boats flying the British Flag: I'm sure he is only doing it to annoy you.
I often hear him muttering, 'we should never have worn red, and marched in a straight line'!
I hope to see you soon: I will give you plenty of warning !"
You will find links below to more detailed pages, amusing TV broadcasts, newspaper articles, and home videos, of Snoopy's attempts
on the Atlantic since November 2012.
Watch our attempts to "beat the surf" in March 2013: now we know how to do it - with Magic Seaweed !
Later in 2013, and in 2014, Snoopy made Atlantic attempts, but these ended up on the Isle of Wight,
with the same boat being rescued by Dick, with little damage.
The Attempt on 30th November 2014, was better: Snoopy got as far as Weymouth, but
crash landed near Portland Bill - undamaged.
In short: Snoopy surprised us by sailing south to Cherbourg, on the French Coast, chased by Dick with bicycle on a cross-channel ferry;
but then Snoopy changed his mind and turned back, followed by Dick. Peter and Dick collected Snoopy from Lulworth Cove and the boat
is now safely at Robin's home in Sunninghill.
Every boat starts with weeks, or even months, of testing on Bray Lake.
Each year we wait for a suitable "Weather Window",
with FLAT surf, an offshore breeze from the North,
and a minimum of three for our launch team,
avoiding holidays, etc.
We watch
Before making an Atlantic attempt, Snoopy has several weeks of "24/7 tests", to ensure all the boat is reliable.
Snoopy sailed over 5,000 miles on Bray Lake in 2012, and has sailed a lot further since then !
If the wind drops
to below about 1mph - as often happens at night -
Snoopy "goes for a wander". If he gets stuck
near the shore, Robin goes over to push Snoopy out again.
In brief: Snoopy tried, but failed to get away
from the beach, in waves that were bigger than on his 2012 attempt. He went home, to sail another day - in calmer conditions ! :-)
In brief: Snoopy launched at 1215pm Friday 11th, wandered, landed about 3am Saturday, was rescued at 8am. Faulty rudder linkage ?
In brief: Snoopy launched at 0850 Saturday 6th in little wind, wandered, landed Sunday morning and rescued. Not enough wind ?
Need a launch spot further west ?
In brief: Snoopy launched at 0830 Sunday 23rd from new spot near Bournemouth: he simply sailed parallel to the beach,
due to a software bug, now fixed.
In brief: Snoopy launched at 1045 Sunday 30th November from Boscombe Pier. Crash landed on rocks at Portland on Tuesday night.
Rescued by Dick almost undamaged.
Robin has added this section, which may be of interest to journalists, who want to "tag along" to get some photos or video.
It may also be of help to dog-walkers, who probably wonder why that strange man, seems to be talking to himself,
and listening to several radios on the roof of his car.
Robin normally avoids days when it is raining, or when there is no wind at all. He therefore checks web sites like
the Met Office, RainToday, and the Maidenhead Sailing Club web cam.
Most people park on the right, just before the club house, but Robin has the combination to the
barrier, so parks his car near the "Base", a few yards past the club house.
Snoopy is usually launched within 5 minutes of Robin arriving. First Robin switches on the Pocket PC,
since it takes a minute or two to "warm up" and start recording GPS data. He puts on his wellies, and
leans Snoopy against a post, with a tranny radio switched on to pick up the computer's speech. The computer
is switched on, and within a few minutes it is speaking and ready to launch.
Robin then uses his camcorder to shoot less than a minutes video, saying things like the date, any changes
to Snoopy's boat, and showing what the wind strength and direction was.
Snoopy is then dropped in the water, and soon after, Robin shoots video. A typical video might last an hour or more,
and occasionally a few small clips might be used in edited videos made public. However, the main purpose of Robin's
video, is to add yet another unedited video DVD to his collection at home. It provides a useful record of what happened.
He will normally return accurately to his Base, where he started, but occasionally he might end up stuck
in reeds on the far bank, tangled in trees on the island, or snagged on the mooring for a floating jetty.
That's when Robin calls in the "Rescue Team" from the club house, and pops another £5 into their drinks kitty :-)
