Twenty two days is not a long time to be at sea but with such full on conditions we finished the Transat Jacques Vabre exhausted and thin.  After just four days in Puerto Limon to fix the boat up and re stock we set sail again on the delivery back to Antigua.  You may imagine turquoise seas, fully loaded i pods and relaxing sunshine sailing akin to something you might find in a holiday brochure.  Unlike the big budget IMOCA 60's, the Class 40 fleet does not generally have large shore crews in tow so as much as we would have liked to get straight on a plane back to our friends/family, beds and the dry land we call home (occasionally!), we had to grunt up and sail the 1,800 miles back to Antigua.  (In a straight line it should only be around 1000).  Disappointment number one came on the day off at the beach in Costa Rica.  Having just fended off the advances of three racoons who clearly had just as much of a craving for the cold beer we had bought with us, we laid down music on, eyes shut enjoying the sunshine.  With the ultimate playlist helping to unwind the tension of the race and the incredible feeling of being dry for the first time in nearly a month adding to the enjoyment you can only imagine the language that ensued when a freak wave engulfed us sweeping away that refreshing beer and silencing the tunes.

1,800 miles with no music and no other source of mental stimulation is not much fun.  Add to that a constant headwind, ridiculous sea state, shortage of food and enough debris to turn the caribbean sea into an obstacle course and you have a very tedious delivery trip.  I think it took us around five days to race from the Mona Passage entrance to the Caribbean Sea to Puerto Limon.  It took over eleven days to go the other way with the wind gods throwing everything at us in their power to make getting there a seemingly never ending task.  All the while the infected thumb on my right hand that had been causing me grief since the first week of the race was increasing in size and pain, good job I whacked it hard by mistake releasing the pressure in a rather gruesome manner (but I will spare you the details).

Anyway we got there.  Finally.  40 Degrees was lifted and I am pleased to report that apart from worn antifoul she was in good shape and quite happy to be getting some downtime.  I got back to London and was the only person on the plane excited to land in the snow at Gatwick.  Its a sad fact of life that after shedding somewhere in the region of 6kg of weight over the course of the race and delivery and having to work my backside off to achieve this (though of course it was not an intentional diet), the festive season has enabled me to gain most of it back with a lot less effort than it took to come off.  Such is life girls!!  

So what's next you ask?  Our season kicks off with the RORC 600 which I will be sailing with the boat's owner Peter Harding followed by some Caribbean training and racing and then onto the Atlantic Cup, Newport-Bermuda, Quebec-St Malo and then the Normandy Channel Race.  Behind the scenes work has begun on a future project which is too new to launch just yet but watch this space...

So 2012 is setting up to be an action packed and fun year.  A lot of lessons have been learned from 2011 which was a tough and at times disappointing year but with the podium position ending it on such a positive note, I intend to build on that high and make this a year to remember.

Thanks to everyone who supported and backed me in so many different ways in 2011 and an even bigger thank you for your continued support.

 

I am still pretty tired and trying to take it all in so will write a long blog soon, in the meantime check out www.thedailysail.com and read up on our arrival in the words of Andi Roberston Transat Jacques Vabre reporter extraordinaire...

Thank you all for following on Twitter and Facebook its great to have your support especially when it is tough out there.  As promised will write before leaving Costa Rica, just enjoying time to chill out and turn my brain off, its been a while.

Cheers x

We went to bed on saturday with our heads in a strange place.  Whilst the boat was ready to go and we had every intention of leaving the dock, we had to attend an early morning meeting where the race director met with all the skippers to discuss feelings on heading out into an intense storm system.  You may have read about the freak weather in the NE USA which saw heavy snow fall, well that was what we were facing.  Although the winds predicted in the front had dropped a little from 70 knots to 60, the sea state was going to be huge and the general consensus was that this should be a test of our racing skills and not our survival skills so the start was postponed.

The prologue however went ahead.  This was a 14 mile exhibition regatta that had all the boats in all the classes out on the water right near the harbour entrance.  This was our first race and we had an awesome time. In 9-12 knots of breeze the boat felt sweet and very much kept in touch with the leading pack.  We went for it and took the opportunity to hoist the code zero, A2 and A3.  Now we are ready to take on the Atlantic and push the boat and ourselves hard.  Well done Team Concise, the Brit boys showed everyone how it should be done. 

So one more night in the hotel that almost feels like home we have been in it for so long.  A final farewell glass of vin rouge and a good carbohydrate rich meal then the last night being warm and dry before we go.  No more strange feelings, this time we are off.  It looks like fast reaching conditions on our way out of the western approaches so its going to be a wet ride but our boat loves that wind angle so we will be looking to capitalize on this whilst we can.  It could be a few days before the dry suit comes off that is for sure.

As much as we have enjoyed our time in Le Havre and had a lot of good food and a lot of laughs it is time to go and head for the sun.  The pre christmas diet and tanning regime is about to begin.  For any of you interested in this extreme program you can follow it simply by existing on freeze dried food, sausicon and chocolate and standing outside under a cold hose for approximately 3 weeks.  As for the tanning part...you can figure that bit out! 

Oh and don't forget to like our new Facebook page '40 Degrees Sailing Team' (just click on the facebook link on my site), we will be posting updates directly from on board the boat.

Well they do say that half the battle is just getting to the start line of a race.  No truer word had ever been spoken with regard to this race.  To the outside world one minute we were on the entry list for the Transat Jacques Vabre - one of the premier double handed ocean racing events in the calendar and the next we disappeared.  Behind the scenes there were numerous complex negotiations going on.  With the original GOR campaign collapsing the tidy up after was never going to be simple.  

I am very pleased to report that we have reached a point where everyone wins and 40 Degrees will not only race the TJV 2011 but has an exciting program of events lined up for 2012.  More about next year soon but for now I am delighted to announce that my co skipper for the TJV will be Jesse Naimark-Rowse.  At 26 years old and with many thousand miles of racing aboard mini's, Class 50's and Open 50's my new American co skipper will be a great addition to the team and we can't wait to cross that start line. You can find out more about Jesse at his new look website www.realitysailing.com

We have just set up a new Facebook page - 40 Degrees Sailing Team so please like us and we will be posting regular updates as we race the 5000 miles to Costa Rica.  

Its great to be back in the game, the boat is looking smart and we are ready to race!!!!!

The last month has been one the whole team would love to forget.  Having to say goodbye to the dream that you have worked so hard on for so long has been soul destroying.  Akin only to splitting with a long term love.  It has tested our resolve, our friendships, our business relationships and made us all question why on earth we do this.  It has taken hours of phone calls, many meetings and a lot of thinking and rethinking to get to the position we find ourselves in now.  One thing we can all honestly say is that no stone has been left unturned in the quest to make the start of the GOR but in the end we just couldn't make the numbers add up, there is no way of getting around the fact that 1+1=2.

Poor old 40 Degrees has been sat with a new bottom just itching to show it off to the world but without new sails she was unable to leave the dock.  Now we have reached a deal with the boys at North Sails Germany we are finally able to get out there.  Of course we wish that was a mad dash to Palma but its not so rather than lick our wounds we now have a short term program in place whilst we search for that elusive sponsor who will make the longer term plan a reality.

Tonight we set sail on the RORC Cherbourg race.  With 2 other Class 40's to race against I guess the bonus is that within class all we have to do is finish to get a podium position!!  Next week we will head down to Benodet for the Class 40 worlds joined by the boat's owner Peter Harding.  We will have a lot of work to do to compete with the guys that regularly sail the 40's inshore but a challenge is not something we are afraid of.

As and when we have concrete plans and lots of cash we will of course bring the news but for now we are concentrating on each day at a time.  Learning, improving and reminding ourselves why we love this sport.  We really must say a massive thank you to Dafydd Hughes - mentor, investor, 'chief shore dude' and above all great great friend.  Without this amazing man and his incredible support we would be nothing more than a couple of girls with big dreams.   

Cheers Daf!