I am writing the blog very, very early, in fact it’s not even the end of the afternoon watch the day before but I have a sneaky feeling that the next 200ish miles between us and the finish line of the round the world race may be a little busy.....not sure why?!

The final stop in Den Helder was very relaxing, with plenty of down time for the crew to enjoy the last port before we return back to London. As always the hospitality was second to none and the team had a very enjoyable time, also it was an opportunity for us to have our final team meal ashore and share one last rum and coke (or 3).

Anyway on to today. The last race start of this epic journey certainly did not disappoint. A downwind line start is always an exciting one, with all boats hoisting and setting kites as the final gun goes.

What followed was a short kite run, pushing for shallow water to try to hide from the foul tide. The team did nothing short of an epic job and we certainly gained a few places in the short distance that we ran the kite for. As the course came round it was time for the Yankee 1 and staysail to go back up and the kite to come down.

The whole fleet compressed and fought to windward in the light breeze, again trying to remain in the shallower water to avoid the foul tide. Lots of crossing amongst the whole fleet, with only a few feet between boats at times certainly made for a high adrenalin, memorable final race start.

It now seems the fleet have split in to two distinct groups. Many of the fleet, our selves included find themselves in the situation of the result of this final race having a direct link to the final standings of the whole round the world race so it’s going to be nail biting stuff. I am sure some of you will have almost worn out the refresh button on your computers by the time we finish...........one thing is for certain, if you blink you might just miss it!

It’s now 0620 in the morning and only 90.5NM remains between us and the finish line of the whole round the world race. It’s still all to play for, as I type we are currently sitting in fifth, with first still reachable. With the tricky tide and, it looking like it is going to be a beat all the way to the finish line. It’s still blinding clear that anything could happen, watch this space.

As this is the final blog while we are on the race track I would personally like to say a big thank you to all that have been involved in this journey, all the crew (past and present), the supporters, the shore team and last but certainly not least.....my Mum and Dad for their continued support.

One more thing.... it’s been emotional.

IchorCoal OUT!