We’re almost there, only 50 more miles to go and quite frankly I can’t wait. Everyone on board now is looking forward to stepping onto the dock, drinking a cold beer and relaxing after three hard weeks of racing. It’s been a pretty awesome three weeks when I look back on it. Without a doubt our team has sailed better together in these past weeks than ever before. It really came together nicely. We have also been very pleasantly surprised by our boat speed and to find that we can battle it out with the front rank.

We have learnt more about each other and the boat than we could have expected and continued to find that extra gear to step up the pace as the race went on. Hopefully we can continue this tempo into the Southern Ocean and no doubt we can achieve something special. However, the most important thing is everyone is finishing the leg with a smile on their face. Throughout the leg the atmosphere has been awesome and you cannot ask for much more than that.

For most on board tiredness has now been replaced with restlessness as everyone slowly counts down the miles, of course this last one hundred has been the slowest despite still travelling at 20 knots. The land is still hiding over the horizon but will appear in the next couple of hours marking the start of all the circus of life on land that we are all so looking forward to. Ironically the very thing I am always so pleased to get away from when I go to sea!

Cheers, for now,

Simon Fisher – Navigator