Race 12 - Day 14
Crew Diary - New York, USA to Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland
04 July

Alison Boeree
Alison Boeree
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So, I reckon we should have been in Derry by now but as you are no doubt aware that arrival has been delayed and we were sent off to see the sights of Rockall (aka Rocky McRockface or f..kall (wonder if that will be censored). An uncomfortable beat in a north easterly direction, wet and cold for a time and in pretty unpleasant living conditions to say the least (galley more like student's mess following a food fight and accommodation area resembling a ghetto) but are we complaining?

Well, yes, just a little bit. Seems that racing fast and hard to secure a respectable lead counts for nothing when the goal posts are moved (again). It looked as though we might have arrived on Sunday and so it has been a little disappointing for some of those on board who live in and around Derry and who thought they might have had the opportunity to either get home for a while or at least visit friends and family ahead of schedule, but such is life....

In fairness, we were not due to arrive until the 7th at the earliest and certainly some members of the Irish contingent were in fact strangely excited to see this tiny piece of land to which at least one of them very vociferously stakes a claim of his nation's ownership. Well, there is probably territory worth fighting for but this is a big lump of rock sitting all on its own in the middle of the sea. From a distance it looks like a muffin with a lovely sugary coating on the top but that may be my mind playing tricks on me as we have now run out of biscuits and snicker bars and everything that makes a night watch tolerable (although MASSIVE thanks to Jo Hillan for the July 4th goodies which could not have been delivered at a better time). Anyway, I digress. As we were making our way who should also rock up but LMAX Exchange and ClipperTelemed+ crossing behind us almost within shouting distance which naturally made for a much more interesting rounding of the rock. It might have been more interesting still had a typo in an amendment to the course direction not been questioned but that's another story!

Well Rockall is now behind us and I can tick it off my list of places that I would never have thought about visiting. Rockall – done!

One always tries to look for positives in the face of adversity. The indomitable Derry~Londonderry~Doire spirit will prevail and as a result of having to beat these extra miles, as a crew, we have become an impressively well-oiled tacking and reefing machine. As we head south downwind(ish) we will undoubtedly be perfecting our gybing technique – be afraid rivals, we are on a mission!

Very best wishes to all our supporters – looking forward to seeing a mass of purple as we get into Derry, hopefully in a couple of days’ time.

Ali B

P.S. Message for Boeree children -

1, Please can one of you e mail me details of hotel and booking reference 2. Miss you all loads and can't wait to see you soon.