Hope springs eternal

Spirits are on the rise now. We know that 3 boats have finished. We think there are 9 boats ahead of us of which 8 are within about 3 miles. If we sail well and run well, we are still in with a chance of a good finishing place. We are now surfing nicely along the inside of Lismore island. At this rate we should make it through the firth of lorn tidal gate and we stand a good chance of making the corran narrows tidal gate too. After that there is a quick sprint to the finish of the sailing. We're well psyched for the run, so there is everything to play for.

One thing we have heard is that some of the boats have passed the mull of Kintyre twice. When we were passed by about 12 boats between Whitehaven and mull of Kintyre, this might have been because 6 boats passed us twice. This makes us feel a lot better.

Geoff is on the helm at the moment. This gives me a lot of confidence. He has that competitive steely determination in his eyes. Piers, our ace spinnaker trimmer is poised with the lines in his hand, waiting on geoff's every command while gary is poised like some a prowling cat, ready to jump on the foredeck and do something physical with the sails.

A hive of activity on board as we ratchet the racing up a notch on the final stretch.