The Olympics

[Niven Sinclair <niven@niven.co.uk>]

There is one person who deserves an Olympic Gold and that is Laura Zolo
who has
just completed the arduous (and often dangerous) voyage from Venice to
Orkney 
and, from there, to Shetland, the Faeroes, Iceland, Greenland, Labrador,
Newfoundland
and Nova Scotia.  She is now planning to sail down the Eastern
seaboard of America
to Massachusetts and to Rhode Island - thus emulating Henry Sinclair's
historic voyage
of 1398.  She has done this in her small yacht "The 7
Roses" which is small enough to
fit into most people's kitchens.

The route she took wasn't the soft Southern route of Columbus but the
stormy waters of
the North Atlantic where Leif Eriksson lost half his fleet and where the
Titanic sank.  Her
story is a story of courage, endurance and determination.  It is
also the story of one of
the finest yachtswomen who has ever sailed the seas.  Her slight
figure belies her stamina.
Her youth belies her incredible achievement.  Her self-effacing
charm belies her ambition
to give 'physical expression' to that which the rest of us have been
talking about for years
i.e. why the illustrious Zeno brothers of Venice chose to join Prince
Henry Sinclair in Orkney
and to serve him for 14 years  -   culminating in their
voyage to the New World in 1398 or,
as is now believed, in 1396 and 1398.

Courage is the one quality which guarantees everything else.  Laura
has this quality in abundant measure.  She deserves our cheers on a
great accomplishment - a veritable marathon against the worst the seas
could throw against her frail craft.  Above all, she deserves our
thanks for bringing the story of Prince Henry Sinclair to a wider
audience than ever before.  In particular, she has captured the
imagination of the young who have been 
eagerly following her voyage from their classrooms across Europe.

Bravo, Laura.    You have that underlying humility which
is the essential ingredient of  true .  champions. It is also
the hallmark of people who know what it is to battle against the elements
- day after unrelenting day.  Captain Jack also deserves a medal for
forbearance.

And your four-legged friends, STELLA and SULTAN, without whom peace would
not have
reigned.  They are undoubtedly man's (and woman's) best
friends.

Niven Sinclair

Niven Sinclair