Well, Flow’s painting is finally approaching the finish line, at last. This has been one of the most exciting tasks so far I’ve never painted a boat hull before, so I have to admit I was a bit nervous at first about how it would turn out.  I can, however, say that I succeeded, and it looks amazing. Flow already had a painted base, which made my job a lot easier. Once again, I have to mention the fantastic work kolibri jachtbouw did. I started by sanding the base paint just enough to remove the gloss, using Abranet 320 sandpaper. Before painting, I applied a little epoxy filler to the seams between the deck and hull to make them smooth. After sanding, I did a thorough cleaning to remove all dust before painting. I first vacuumed the boat and then wiped it with a cloth dampened with plain water, followed by a tack cloth. This is a slightly sticky cloth that removes even the tiniest dust particles. Right before painting, I wiped it down with Epifanes Pre-Paint Cleaner. Le...

 It’s time once again to write a little blog post. Flow is progressing at a really good pace, and I’m excited about it. :)  My father has helped me enormously with all the wooden parts, which is one reason for the fast progress. In this post, I’m going to talk about building the crash box.   In the middle of the crash box, we added a reinforcement piece to make the whole structure stronger and more durable. Before cutting it from the actual material, we first made a template out of cardboard. That way we could test the shape, make sure it fit perfectly, and then easily cut the final piece to size. This little extra step made the process much smoother and helped avoid mistakes.  Once the plywood piece had been cut, we decided to drill an extra ventilation hole in it. I didn’t want to end up with any sealed-off sections or closed boxes inside the boat that couldn’t be opened or accessed. By adding the hole, the space can “breathe” better and it reduces the risk of h...

Heyyy! It’s been a little while since the last update, but now I finally have a moment to share how the project is progressing. The boat has arrived in Finland   huge thanks to the amazing team at Kolibri Jachtbouw and especially Pim van den Brink, who built Flow’s hull with excellent craftsmanship. The boat has now been in Finland for a couple of months, and I’ve made some solid progress on the build. So far, I’ve installed the ventilation system, fitted the cockpit hatches, and mounted the handrails and stanchions. Next up is painting the interior and continuing the deck hardware planning. I’ve modified the bow pulpit and built storage hatches for the cockpit About a month ago, I found out that the race has been moved forward by 12 months – which means my start will be in November 2026. I'm so glad I decided to order a finished hull, because now I actually have the chance to join the race a whole year earlier. Over the past few weeks, I’ve also been focusing a lot on f...

I was in Lanzarote preparing for the RORC Transatlantic Race when, by chance, I ended up in the same marina as the Globe 580 Transat skippers. I decided to make the most of the opportunity and took a walk along the docks, even though my schedule was tight. I managed to visit a few boats, and those visits turned out to be incredibly inspiring. Each boat had something unique, and the skippers' solutions gave me plenty of new ideas and insights for finishing and equipping my own boat. It was particularly interesting to see the different approaches the skippers had taken in building and outfitting their boats  there was something valuable to learn from each one.  Beyond the technical observations, what stood out the most was the camaraderie among the skippers. The atmosphere in the marina was almost family-like, with everyone genuinely helping each other out. The more experienced ones shared tips, someone lent tools, and together they solved problems like old friends. This positiv...

The skeg is finally completed and ready to be installed on the boat. Here are pictures documenting the entire construction process.                                                        As I mentioned in the previous post, I had ordered a 3D model for the skeg, which made it easy to laminate on top of it. First, I applied aluminum tape over the entire 3D model to make it easier to remove the model afterward. :) After that, it was time to start laminating with fiberglass mat, applying five layers. I then let it dry thoroughly. After this, the mold was removed from the inside, and a plate (the skeleton) with pre-welded bolts was fitted into place. Next came the filling of the skeg and the embedding of the "skeleton". The skeg was filled with epoxy mixed with "West Systems 402 Milled Glass Fibre Blend," which enhances the strength and adhesion of...

 Before the Ocean Globe Race, I wanted to take care of a few things before leaving Finland. I ordered, among other things, the mast, railings, and other stainless steel parts, as well as prepared for building the skeg. I ordered the railings, handles, ladders, and other parts from Piotor Czarniecki, so a big thank you to him for the high-quality parts.     I ordered a skeg mold from a Finnish 3D printing company called 'Savonia,' and it arrived in three parts, which I simply glued together. Next up will be laminating the skeg and hollowing out the 3D model from inside.       The 3D mold was first taped with aluminum tape to ensure it would come off the mold easily. After that, five layers of fiberglass mat were applied to the mold and carefully smoothed out. Next up is filling it with epoxy! The keel mold is already well underway! Shaping the bulb part from plywood. The bulb part was filled with putty and sanded smooth to make the keel as even as possible. ...

Finally, I can announce that the construction of my boat has begun. Initially, my idea was to build the entire hull myself in Finland. However, I realized that I wouldn't have enough time for that, so I decided to order the boat from the Kolibri Jachtbouw company in the Netherlands. The company builds Mini 6.50 and Globe 5.80 boats. A blog about the construction of boat number #78 is written on the company's website. They have just started building the hull, and I immediately requested some pictures so I can share them here :) The boat will arrive in Finland at the end of 2024, and it will be completed here. A big thank you in advance to Kolibri Jachtbouw! The building jig with frame D installed, seen from aft 

Ocean Globe Race – The Final Leg Is About to Begin I knew this leg would be long and tough, as we would once again face the doldrums, and the winds would be more often against us compared to the Southern Ocean legs. The first week was a straight upwind sail, which was a bit uncomfortable, but once the wind shifted, we made good progress with the downwind, and our route choice turned out to be very good. Some of the big boats were behind us, and we were leading the race. At that moment, we were in fourth place, which made all of us very proud. However, there was still a long way to go, and anything could happen. It didn’t take long before we got stuck in calm waters, spending 18 hours there. Those were the longest hours standing still. It was incredibly frustrating as most of the boats behind us managed to pass us on both sides. I was very disappointed since the weather reports didn’t indicate this at all. Well, that’s racing. Luckily, the tuna we caught for dinner lifted our spirits. T...

We spent an entire month in Auckland, and during that time, we managed to repair and service all parts of the boat. Now, it was ready for the third and most challenging leg from Auckland to Punta del Este, Uruguay. After spending a month on land, heading back to the sea felt difficult, and it was hard to adjust to the idea of spending long stretches of time at sea again.   The first two weeks went really well, and I focused a lot on interpreting the weather data. We had a New Zealander, Peter, who had promised to provide weather broadcasts on the radio every evening before the group buddy chat, where all the boats shared their locations and wind information. There are strict rules about what kind of weather information can be given. Most of the data consisted of the coordinates of high and low-pressure systems and the progression of fronts, so there was plenty to interpret. However, it kept me busy, and time passed quickly.   I also learned how to use a sextant The wind was on...

After a week on land, it was time to head back to sea. The next stop would be in New Zealand Aucland. Once again, the start day was very light wind, and unfortunately for us, it was upwinds. We had a good start, but despite that, the bigger boats quickly sped past us and disappeared over the horizon once more. In situations like these, I wished I were on a larger boat, as they always managed to reach the areas with favorable winds much faster. Boats on the starting line    After the difficult start, we finally got some really fun weather, allowing us to surf downwind for several days. The goal was to head south and catch the strong westerly winds. We also had three virtual waypoints that we had to round. Strong wind downwind The wind calmed again, and everyone’s spirits were a bit low, as it always felt like everyone else was moving except us. We sat in a calm for a few hours, moved a little, and then stopped again. We received a strong wind warning from race organizer Don Mc...