Race 1 - Day 27
Crew Diary - Race 1 Day 27: Liverpool to Punta del Este
16 September

After what seems like many months at sea, we have noted a distinct change in the morale of the crew. This all emanates from the inspirational words of Wendo.

Early in the leg, her legendary pep talks went along the lines of “just don't break anything”. As the race continued we were given strict instructions, “drive it like you stole it”. Now however the time has come for the words we all needed to get us through to Punta.

“Think of the mojitos, smell the BBQ”

With these words we powered ahead, the Doldrums far behind us and all the excitement of spinnakers to keep us occupied. The boat has now flattened out and the crew Jenga challenge has been re-instated.

As we approach the final days of what we understand is the longest opening leg in Clipper Race history, strange things have been happening on the boat. Jan Riley, our Victualler has revealed that she is on Mother Duty tomorrow, Sunday, and we are to have roast beef. She has, apparently, secreted all the necessary ingredients around the boat and will be gathering them together for this special meal. The excitement amongst the crew is intense particularly as last night we had chicken curry that contained both chicken and curry. To top it off we found the spicy mango chutney for the first time so the curry department is firing on all cylinders at last.

Other things which we believe are as likely to occur include Nicola Harford not having a fag, Yongqiang appearing in a new outfit, and Glenn Manchett typing an email.

Glenn has asked that we use this blog to apologise to his many followers on Twitter that he has failed to tweet lately. He hopes to resume his normal copious correspondence with his family and fans once on dry land in Punta. No doubt this will include selfies with all the things he has sworn to get in the first 24 hours, which include a “very large” (not quite his description) steak, a lot of beer and wine and the first packet of fags for several weeks.