Winter project teaser

[scotta]

Will there be strong broo racing and ov9 logos all over it?

What’s the first rule of OV9....

[speedingfine]

20mpg at 50mph

Great stuff mate, what an adventure

[JonMad]

Holy crap! How long should that take you? Are you staring or finishing in Russia? According to my skim reading, you could say, of wikipedia a lot of people doing it seem to get detained by the authorities!

[nuttinnew]

Much excellence

What was your original plan that was H&S denied?

Ooh, I spy an opportunity for an OV9 triangle.

[jamcg]

Will there be strong broo racing and ov9 logos all over it?

What’s the first rule of OV9....

Mito’s a cunt?

[Mito Man]

No I’m the cunt

There’s a difference

[Nefarious]

Various questions:
We're starting in Wales (the Alaskan one!) and finishing in Naukan (Russia).
We're taking a two-pronged approach to the bureaucratic angle - officially, Discovery are dealing with everything, and we have permits and visas covering every eventuality. Unofficially, one of the team member's mechanics is the brother-in-law of the local head of the FSB (who has already half-jokingly offered to have rival teams arrested if they beat us!)
H&S denied plan was to fully enclose the cabin of the craft with polycarb to provide some shelter/protection - sadly, that prove a bit trappy if we turn it over, and may also give some visibility problems with sea spray turning to ice. A full canopy would probably be problematic for thurst fan airflow too. Experiments are under way to come up with a compromise solution (larger, wrap-around, double-glazed front screen, heated with the exhaust).
Exact distance is dependent on which route we take - at the moment, we're favouring going in a loop to the south (more open water, less ice), which will be around 65 miles, rather than the 52 as the crow flies.
And yes, there will be opportunities for some stickerage...

[Rich B]

That all sounds amazing, how on earth did you get involved with it?!

[Nefarious]

That all sounds amazing, how on earth did you get involved with it?!

One of my local fabrication companies ended up sold in a fire-sale (owner had a stoke). This bloke Spenser bought it, essentially as a plaything. I met him one day when I was looking to get some metal cutting and folding. In his yard he had a Ford Model b hotrod, a tatty RR silver shadow with a giant tank on the roof (for Gin, naturally), a 1963 Seahawk hovercraft (3rd hovercraft ever made), an Iveco truck he'd converted to electric and a dozen Sinclair C5s in various states of modification.
We hit it off, I help out on a welding project, and while we were working together on fabricating some of the bits for the Westfield, he said "Fancy coming to the arctic?". I said "Err...OK". I found out the details over the next couple of weeks.

TL;DR version - a crazy bloke I barely know asked me and I said yes

[Rich B]

Aaaah, a bromance!!

[Gavin]

Does Spenser look like Han?

[Nefarious]

Yeah, I'm definitely going to let the beard grow out a bit for some added insulation...

[Foz]

Cool!

[Brian_T]

TL;DR version - a crazy bloke I barely know asked me and I said yes

Isn’t that how all the best projects start?

Granted, this one sounds mental!

[Carlos]

TL;DR version - a crazy bloke I barely know asked me and I said yes

Isn’t that how all the best projects start?

Granted, this one sounds mental!

[dan]

madness, what an adventure!

[JLv3.0]

a tatty RR silver shadow with a giant tank on the roof (for Gin, naturally)

You don't think that warranted just the teensiest bit of explanation?

[nuttinnew]

How are you getting everything to Alaska in the first place?

[mik]

Unicycle

[nuttinnew]

Unicycle