Race 1 - Day 29
Crew Diary - Race 1 Day 29: Liverpool to Punta del Este
18 September

This morning was a good day for surfing. With 20 to 30 knots of wind pushing our spinnaker towards Punta del Este and a good swell as the sun came up, I reached a personal best – and, so far, boat best – speed of 20.4 knots on the helm.

As I write this down below after breakfast, whilst Nell Wyatt and Simone Talfourd come up with a cracking lunch and (later) dinner of Thai green curry, it's the other watch's turn to (a) go as fast as they can and set new boat records; (b) go as fast as they can in the right direction to avoid the wind holes to the left, storms to the right here we are, stuck in the middle with 21 other smelly people; (c) keep the apparent wind angles steady to not broach or gybe; and (d) not break our spinnaker or wrap it round the forestay. It's a delicate juggling act. Even after a few weeks, it occasionally all comes crashing down. (Example A: this morning in the dark and the clouds at 5am. Hopefully I didn't wake up the whole boat...)

It's my turn on Chef Watch in four days time, which as always I am looking forward to since, as well as a night's sleep afterwards, it also means I don't have to think about sailing for a full 24 hours. Being Watch Leader has rather thrust me in at the deep end, and (although I think I'm starting to gradually get it together and make a reasonable job of it), a break from looking after the boat and my team – who after four weeks are really doing a super job and need only the minimum of looking after – is definitely a welcome occasion. Fortunately our awesome assistant watch leader (Bill Lyons) is more than capable of sailing this boat despite her claims to the contrary!

Time for mid-morning nap and dreams about wine, steak and showers in Uruguay...