Date 13 July 2005

Location Departing La Rochelle

Weather Sunny

Heading for Home

Skipper's Comments

Beautiful sunshine and loud cheers saw us off the dock this morning for the start of the final leg of the Global Challenge.

It was an early start due to the tidal constraints on La Rochelle. Bang on time the
music started and the cheers were hailed as the first yacht left the dock.

A slight difference this morning was that we were led out of La Rochelle by
Challenge 36, skippered by John Quigley. He has been waiting patiently to step in for any one of the skipper's doing the race. Fortunately for us, this has not happened and John has been keeping himself busy training up all our leggers that have joined us along the way. It was great to see him again and we really do appreciate all the training and hard work he has put into the race back in Southampton.

We had about three hours before the start gun at midday by the time we left
the channel. The fleet sat in about 6 knots of breeze looking at
any shifts and breeze lines that may develop. The wind varied from 4 - 10 knots and was constantly shifting by about 20 degrees. We all knew it would
be a down wind start and with the tide helping us cross the line we all
wanted not to have the mistake of being over the line early. A push in light
airs and against the tide to re-cross the start line again would have been
very painful.

Our start began by looking quite calm and then everything changed. We had a
very close squeeze with Barclays Adventurer and BG Spirit. With the yachts
accelerating with the spinnakers, we had to keep clear of BG Spirit, similarly Barclays Adventurer needed to keep clear of us. We all escaped unscathed, although my heart rate went up a few notches.

Once clear of the start line the sight was fantastic. This was the last departure from port and the last start of the Global Challenge Race. All the yachts had a spinnaker flying and were ghosting along, just about keeping them filled.

Wind lines kept appearing and disappearing, and the wind was oscillating by about 20 degrees. We made the first mark without a gybe thanks to a wind shift. The fleet then became a mixture of those with spinnakers and those without as we sailed along the edge of the Ile de Re. Unfortunately for us the yachts that sailed higher had more breeze as they were closer to the shore and they closed the second mark ahead of us.

The wind is now a constant north-westerly, and about 14knots. All the fleet are in sight and we all have the same sail plan. This is a strong reminder of Boston. In
constant breeze with the same sail plan it is very difficult for a Challenge Yacht to overtake another, however, tonight as it gets dark there may be an opportunity to tack as we make our way towards the next waypoint off the Ile de Sein.

Massive gains and losses can be made and only be revealed in the cold light of day and the morning scheds.
It is a glorious afternoon and a short distance to be covered that requires
the pressure to be maintained all the time. Onboard 'Imagine it. Done.' We
are very keen to repeat the experience of the last leg and make the podium
again. If we can improve on that performance again, that would be ideal.

Every yacht in the fleet wants the home coming leg to be the big win, so
everyone will be pushing really hard. It is important to remember that every
individual that returns to Gun Wharf this weekend will be a winner. There
are only an elite few that have sailed around the world.

Dee Caffari/Yachting World, 13 July 2005