Ever get really frustrated Something making you really mad Well let me tell you that's where I am at right now! I'm taking a bet that most of you reading this have never heard of the Vendee Globe Well for those of you who haven't its the round the world solo yacht race that Ellen McArthur came to fame in when she finished second in the last but one running (its held every four years) The Vendee Globe is the Everest of solo round the world yacht racing, non stop, grueling, dangerous, wet, cold, fast. Then why have most people never heard of it, in France where the start takes place, its a national institution with over 300000 people descending on Les Sables d'Olonne in November. I have a theory that perhaps yachting is still seen as elitist in the UK and that therefore the British media (press and TV) rate it for almost zero coverage, in fact the only significant piece was when Alex Thompson on Hugo Boss had to return with a broken boat and retire (the usual bad news making the headlines). Why am I ranting on about this Its because in a very small way my company ( www.specdepot.co.uk ) has helped a "rookie" British skipper to get to and across the start line. Steve White, aboard A Toe in the Water, only started sailing 9 years ago and is currently in position 17 in a ten year old boat. He failed to get a "household name" sponsor and has relied on small sub sponsors like ourselves to get down to Les Sables d'Olonne, thankfully at the last minute some backers of A Toe in the Water ( www.toeinthewater.org stumped up enough of their own money to help Steve fund new sails (the old ones were really beyond racing and would have kept him at the back of the fleet) There are 7 British Skippers in the fleet (that's over 23 % of the boats) and yet still no coverage - in the current challenging times we live in, with bad news the norm, surely we should shout from the rooftops about such stories of excellence and determination. What can you do to help What I am looking for is firstly that you sign our e-petition with your email address and a simple message of support, secondly that you forward this mail link to ten (or more if you can) of your email contacts asking them to do the same in turn. I am looking to generate 1 million "contacts" to this support our goal of better coverage in the UK - I promise you that your email addresses will not be divulged to any third party and will categorically not be used for marketing to you, they will simply form a log of evidence of the level of support which is out there - we wish to use this to highlight to the UK media that they have made the wrong call in ignoring this, the pinnacle of human effort against the elements. To find out more about the Vendee Globe go to www.vendeeglobe.org/en and to see the current positions of all the skippers www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ranking.html Thank you in advance for your help.

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