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.