We are currently sailing East towards Cape Town at 10-12 knots. Steady winds and sunshine - not quite the brochure shot for the Roaring Forties but we’re very happy to take it. We have been racing for nearly two weeks and are fast approaching the Ocean Sprint and the last thousand miles to the finish. It has been nearly two weeks of incredible sailing and extraordinary contrasts. Days with wind and days without; days with sunshine and clear blue skies and days with thick monotonous grey cloud; flat azure seas and dark grey rolling surf; starry nights where the moon has created a day-time like the visibility of the boat and sails and nights as “dark as the inside of a cow” where there has been no moon and no stars and the only things visible have been the reflective strips, on parts of the boat and our fellow crew, and the faint red light emerging from around the companionway cover. We have had watches where it seems all we have done is a never-ending series of sail changes and watches where the only movement is from those crew steering or making the tea.
Strangers on board have become friends and novice sailors are able to measure their sea miles in thousands. The weather has done nothing like the forecast and - actually this is probably one of the few constants.
And while I am super excited about getting to Cape Town and being able to talk to family; from a pure sailing perspective I’m not sure if I want this leg to end or to do it all again.