Race 5 - Day 2
Crew Diary - Race 5 Day 2: Sydney to Hobart
28 December

So, it's here. The big one. Sydney-Hobart, the race I was most looking forward to (like with most people here). This one feels different. And not how you might expect. There are just so many things to take in. The crowds, the race course marked out in Sydney harbour which we had to stay in, and everyone else stay out of, the flotillas of boats marking the edge of the course 5 deep to watch us go...

But it's also the famous boats we see, both the superfast supermaxis and historical ones like the beautiful Dorade, which won every race there was to win in the 1930s. For me, just as inspiring is seeing the 2 Clipper 68 boats, each having sailed 4 times around the world in previous editions of this race, but each with crews of injured former service personnel, promoting the Invictus Games. For those of you not familiar with Invictus, Google it. It is truly a privilege to sail with these guys and I hope to meet up with some of them in Hobart to share stories.

For all the fame of the race itself, I have been much more relaxed about the sailing on this one than many before. Maybe it comes from having sailed halfway around the world already. Hopefully not complacency or over-confidence as there can be tricky waters and a storm can hit anywhere. But it just feels a lot more comfortable to be sailing within just a few miles of land and in waters we have already sailed in once. And also to have so many other yachts nearby. It just feels a lot less of a jump into the unknown. I always find the most difficult part of the race being a few days after leaving, and it being almost unimaginable how long till we are back on dry land again. At just a few days, this is not like it. It will be different for everyone, and particularly for people on their first leg, but having crossed the Atlantic twice and had 2 journeys into the Southern Ocean, the Tasman Sea is less scary.

So, for me, it's a bit of a sprint. The racing should be close and competitive, which will be fun. And we could have a good battle right to the finish. Hopefully we do well in this. We will certainly be giving it our all.