Words by Karen White (Hannah's mum!). The word is out that despite tight OSTAR regulations Hannah is not sailing alone. Harry, the official OSTAR teddy from 2005, has stowed away on board PureSolo. He missed out on the parties in Newport last time around and is determined to get to the finish this time. His travelling companions are Joe, an extremely long-limbed monkey newly arrived from Africa, and VIP guest George (pictured), the RNLI bear, who is a veteran short-handed sailor having recently completed the Vendee with Brain Thompson on Bahrain Team Pindar.
Hannah’s ‘relationship’ with George goes back to October 2006 shortly after he decided (with a little help from the RNLI) to go travelling and he packed his bags and waited to see where the wind would take him. He didn’t have to wait long and his adventures started in Lymington where the local Lifeboat crew presented him to Hannah who flew with him to Spain to join Alex Thompson on his Open 60 Hugo Boss in the Velux Five Oceans race. After that rather hairy adventure, George wondered if he was more of a land-lubber and joined Hannah’s father climbing to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in February 2007.
George is excited about his latest trip across the Atlantic and has packed his iPod and microphone ready to join Hannah in some Pure Solo recording sessions soon as the weather allows.
Check out all George’s adventures on www.bluesheets.co.uk/wheresgeorge/
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