Cape Town

As we head out once again for the open ocean, the crew of BP Explorer reflect on our farewell to Cape Town and the start of this, the last marathon leg of the race. Emotions on board this morning were a far cry from the ominous quiet which rippled through our ranks in Sydney before setting off for the Southern Ocean; now, we are chasing the sun, a return to our home hemisphere and that dream of first place. It seems so much more within reach than before and a 'not-daring-to-dream' approach has been replaced with a far braver conviction that it IS possible - we CAN do it.

The start itself, it has to be said, did not do us any great favours though! Two worries were foremost in our minds with the light conditions that faced the fleet bobbing around below Table Mountain: firstly, drifting over the line early and being subjected to a time penalty (as happened to VAIO); and secondly, drifting into another boat and becoming entangled in their rigging - all too possible a scenario in these conditions. So our main aim was to stay out of trouble. This we managed, but were a little rusty before the wind began to pick up. "It was one of our bumpier take-offs," admits David. "We managed to find every gap and hole in the wind there was going but some aggressive work with the kite has enabled us to fight our way back up the pack. Currently we are lying about fourth thanks to an early gybe to the windward side of the pack which gave us a nice amount of power. I am very pleased with the way that the crew reacted to the peel and then the gybe and I'm glad that we are on our way again - looking at sails behind rather than in front."

Let's just hope that we can keep it that way as we head into our last African night and the start of another adventure.