Race 2 - Day 1
Crew Diary - Race 2, Day 1
15 September

15th September - From Jonathan Broome

Ok so this is it then, after six days in port it was time to leave the safe moorings and to begin the second part of our 5,200 nautical miles voyage to Uruguay.

Are we ready? yes, Are we prepared? For sure, so it was back to our duties and final prep at 10am with the plan to leave our VIP berth at 2pm, with a Race Start of 4pm. It is a remarkable feeling to be part of such an event. I have been to many sports events to watch teams and players and this was the second time in my life to participate in such an event (first being when we left St. Katharine Docks on 1 September.)

It is very different to be a participant, rather than a spectator. Sure we are all a little nervous at the beginning when you depart from the jetty, but the feeling is hugely rewarding as we parade up and down the harbour, accompanied by a small armada of boats waving and cheering us on.

It's a spectacle of colour and noise. I felt honoured that the people we have never met would come to the quayside to wave us off on our long journey. Perhaps this was not the same parade as we had all enjoyed on the Thames, but we were all still impressed.

So at the start of the race, we muscled our way across the start line; it was truly impressive to see such boats manoeuvre their way around an initial three nautical mile short course. At times we came within just a few metres of each other. At least there was no damage done to any boats or crew. We then set our compass, trimmed our sails whilst, recognising that with all going well the next point of land we would see would be Uruguay.