It felt very different on the dock when we said goodbye to Den Helder, knowing that the next stop is the last is beginning to sink in. It was a pleasure to parade behind the Dutch navy on their sail training yacht Urania and then it was into the race start and we were away.
Very close to begin with as we all used what remains of our spinnakers to edge our way downwind but against the tide. We were doing well but messed up the change between spinnaker and Yankee sail, so went from second to somewhere near last in one poor change.
With all the fleet suffering in light winds and with currents pushing us all around it was hard to tell who was doing better until dusk when we took a wind shift and began to line up. Now, having just watched sunrise on the last day of sailing we're doing well and trading between first and second place with Derry~Londonderry~Doire. It's nice to be here, but far too early to get complacent; we have more light winds forecast and the tides and sandbanks of the Thames Estuary to get around first.
Huw