So here it is – the first proper Torpedalo blog. I’m aiming to write these at least one a week, to give a more in-depth update of progress and news. Things are happening at such a hilarious pace at the moment, that there should be quite a lot to report on!

The last two weeks then. It’s probably been the most productive fortnight since we started the project back in October. Last week saw us chalk up 1500 miles in the name of the project, with Mark driving up to Newcastle (twice) for the scale model towing tank tests and us both going down to the South-West to meet with various experts. We’d received the scale models a few days earlier, beautifully machined in to foam from John Burn Ltd by Concept Group International in Coventry. After a day’s work sanding and priming them, the Bentley paint shop finished them with a quality white top coat. Mark took the models up to Newcastle Uni’s 37m towing tank on the Monday, where he completed drag measurement runs on two of three “Torpiddilies”, with the support of the staff there who have been incredible.

On Tuesday, we headed down to Plymouth to see some of our experts. We started with boat-building legend Jamie Fabrizio and the lovely Emily at Global Boat Works. Emily fuelled us with tea and 17,000 pieces of toast and peanut butter, before we talked them through the project and discussed some details about boat construction. From there, we stopped in at Woodvale (the race organisers) to show them our progress. Their comment of “nobody will ever want to row again” sums up how impressed they were! Then it was on to see Tim Searle at Composite Innovations, to talk about all things carbon fibre. We were due to have dinner with Tim and his wife Debra (who herself has rowed the Atlantic), but unfortunately we had to put those plans on hold as Debra was ill.

On Wednesday we saw boat design master Phil Morrison at his home in Exmouth, to talk through stability calculations and the general layout of our boat. After that, we had an appointment with Simon Clare, Director of Marketing at Princess Yachts. We’re in discussions with Princess about them doing the carbon lay-up of the boat for us. We’ll find out on Wednesday if this is likely or not, but we’re really hoping that they come onboard – it could be a huge deal if they agree. Cross your fingers…

After returning home on Wednesday night, Mark had another trip to Newcastle Uni on Thursday to finish the drag measurement on the third model and carry out seakeeping trials on all three. With this work now complete, Mark is starting to refine our hull shape in preparation for a second set of tests in April.

Last week was based entirely in Crewe, but was still a massively positive week, with three new sponsors confirming their involvement in the project. First was a meeting with Paul Strzelecki, Joint-CEO of Henri Lloyd. After an hour of discussion, Paul let us know that he and his company would be fully behind us! An awesome sponsor, and we’re delighted that they’ve agreed to help us. Not only are they going to supply our foul-weather gear, but we’re also talking about designing and making the interior stowage of the boat out of their lightweight, waterproof and fully recyclable materials. We also talked about Torpedalo-branded merchandise…watch this space…

Second confirmed sponsor last week was HoloVis, a visualisation company in Lutterworth. They specialise in designing and building 2D and 3D presentation systems, with some mind-blowing examples on display (including an immersive 3D environment that is proper Virtual Reality stuff!). Not only are they making all of their equipment available to us for our promo events, but they’re also going to provide the remaining money we need to pay our race entry fee. So  it’s official - we have enough cash to pay for our entry!

Finally, on Friday Dutch company Mastervolt let us know that they’re onboard as a sponsor. They’ll be providing our main batteries, battery monitors, switch panels, chargers and an inverter – all expensive kit, and absolutely vital. Now we just need some solar panels to supply the juice! Software company Digital Wave have also very kindly donated a license for their extremely useful software Visual Passage Planner, which will allow us to plot our course across the Atlantic to take advantage of the best currents and winds. There are lots more “irons in the fire” with potential sponsors for all sorts of things – hopefully I’ll have more to report next week. Thanks again to all of our phenomenal sponsors – we really couldn’t be doing this without you!

As for the week ahead – Mark’s finished investigating the results from the tank tests, so will be discussing them with our hydrodynamicists. He’s also got the detailed design of the hull shape to complete, so we can get the second set of scale models machined. Meanwhile, i’ve got a marketing plan to draw up, and more sponsors to convince!

All the best,

Mike