LEJOG 2025

Here is the 2025 Land's End to John O'Groats schedule

Day 1 - Sunday June 8th

Day 2 - Monday June 9th

Day 3 - Tuesday June 10th

Day 4 - Wednesday June 11th

Day 5 - Thursday June 12th

Day 6 - Friday June 13th

Day 7 - Saturday June 14th

Day 8 - Sunday June 15th

Day 9 - Monday June 16th

Day 10 - Tuesday June 17th

Day 11 - Wednesday June 18th

Day 12 - Thursday June 19th

Day 13 - Friday June 20th

Day 14 - Saturday June 21st

FAREWELL PARTY AND PRIZE GIVING MARK THE END OF THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE 2004/05

Taken from News Report on Monday, July 18, 2005 - 08:03 PM

Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth was the scene of a spectacular party last night – the crew party for the 200+ men and women who were celebrating the completion of their around the world adventure, The Global Challenge 2004/5.
There were mixed emotions for the crew with many feeling slightly lost now the whole adventure is over whilst others were over the moon and delighted to be back on dry land raring to get on with the next challenge, the race having inspired them on.

Prior to the Tiger Tiger soiree, the official prize-giving ceremony took place outside on a stunning, blazing hot summer’s day. Under the colossal and impressive Spinnaker Tower in Gunwharf Quays hundreds of crew, friends, families and well-wishers packed around the stage. The atmosphere was electric as Tracey Clarke and Alistair Hackett took to the stage to welcome the crews, sponsors, press and onlookers to the last prize giving of the Global Challenge 2004/05.

First off were the prizes for Leg 7 – La Rochelle to Portsmouth.

The BP Safety Award was awarded to Matt Riddell, skipper of Samsung who collected the first prize of the evening. The BG 24-hour Record Award was VAIO, who did 203.4 miles in 24 hours; skipper Amedeo Sorrentino collecting the trophy.

Next was the Pindar ‘First to Cross the Leg 7 Start Line’ prize which went to VAIO who win a day’s sail on the Pindar Open 60 for 3 crew.

The Unisys/EMC Media Prize for Best Daily Log was awarded to John Bass, BP Explorer for a very emotive log describing how the crew felt when they missed a mark and had to turn back, effectively ending any real chance they had to take anything higher than 3rd place in the race overall.

The Unisys/EMC Rubber Chicken Award for the most comical/unusual incident was awarded to John Quigley and Challenge Yacht 36 – the prototype 72ft Challenge yacht that made the trip from La Rochelle to Portsmouth with guests of Challenge Business on board. They were jokingly accused of crossing the start line early, missing all the marks of the course, disobeying the sailing instructions and deliberately receiving outside assistance!

Next was the Best Photograph Award sponsored by VAIO which was awarded to a photograph made possible by the change to the course by the Race Committee to include a rounding of the Eddystone Lighthouse, an image of BG SPIRIT taken by SAIC La Jolla.

Next was the First Past Ushant Award sponsored by Carte Blanche, which was awarded to SAIC La Jolla.

Alistair Hackett then presented framed onEdition photographs to the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Robin Sparshatt, Druscilla Moody of Portsmouth City Council and Mike Davidson of Gunwharf Quays.

Next up were the awards for the first three teams to arrive in Portsmouth after yet another incredibly competitive leg, which ended in a tense run to the line in light winds.

The Third place for Leg Seven prize was presented to VAIO and second place went to Barclays Adventurer.

The Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Robin Sparshatt then announced the leg winner, BG SPIRIT. Skipper Andy Forbes took the stage to receive the leg trophy for their dream homecoming into Portsmouth and said a few words thanking his team.

When the Leg 7 prizes had been awarded, the ceremony moved into the second stage – the overall prizes for the Global Challenge 2004/05.

The BP Overall Safety Award was awarded to the most consistent performer in the safety arena. Dee Caffari came to collect the prize on behalf of Imagine It. Done. who had received three of the seven leg BP Safety Awards.

The BG Overall 24-hour Record Award was awarded to Team Stelmar, who had the furthest 24 hour run of the entire race - 275.89 nmiles.

Best Overall Photograph Award sponsored by VAIO was presented to Giles Mackay of BP Explorer for a photo taken off Boston of a yacht becalmed, watching a competitor get away: a poignant reminder that light airs can, in some ways, be even more difficult to handle than the heaviest seas.

Next was the Sark Award for the Continual Development of a Global Challenge 2004/5 Crew Member. The prize (Donated by the Sark Tourism Committee) is a one-week holiday for two adults or a family of four on the Isle of Sark in 2006, including flights from the UK and ferry from Guernsey, staying at the luxury hotel Aval du Creux.

The prize for Best Onboard Sail Repairs was announced for the first time in Global Challenge history. Clive Cosby and his sail repair team went up to the stage to receive the custom prize of a section of sails and a custom trophy made from rope and shackles.

Nick MacAndrew, Chairman of Save the Children, presented the Third Place Overall prize for the Global Challenge. The overall third prize was given to BP Explorer who went up to the stage to the sound of their team song.

The Prize for Second Place Overall for Global Challenge was awarded to Barclays Adventurer. Skipper, Stuart Jackson and crew went up the stage to receive their trophy.

Next on the agenda was the presentation of a cheque for £300,000 to official race charity, Save the Children, presented by Sir Chay Blyth CBE BEM, Executive Chairman, Challenge Business to Nick MacAndrew, Chairman of Save the Children.

Sir Chay Blyth then presented Andy Forbes, winning skipper, with two return Upper Class tickets to the USA, sponsored by Virgin Atlantic. The crew were then invited to the stage, again in time to the crowds clapping along to the team song. Andy Forbes was presented with the Princess Royal Trophy, a confetti cannon fired and the loudest cheer of the evening went up as Andy lifted the trophy.

Andy Forbes thanked everyone involved in the race, especially the other crews. He said the race wasn't just about one team, it’s about all twelve, although he thanked his team especially for their journey over the last 10 months. “It’s your life, live it” were his final words.

Three cheers for the winning team marked the end of the ceremony and the teams gathered for a compilation video of the whole race on the big screen!

Overall results of the Global Challenge 2004/05

1 BG SPIRIT, 90 points
2 Barclays Adventurer, 76 points
3 BP Explorer, 74 points
4 Spirit of Sark, 73 points
5 Team SAIC La Jolla, 71 points
6 Team Stelmar, 66 points
7= Me To You, 63 points
7= VAIO, 63 points
9 Samsung, 58 points
10 Imagine It. Done., 56 points
11 Pindar, 54 points
12 Team Save the Children, 41 points

50o05N 3o57W - Nearly home

It's pretty safe to say things aren't really going to plan on BP Explorer at the moment. We have been through a lot together but this last leg has tested us as a team more than any other. It would be easy to be angry, our mistake could be placed on the shoulders of a few, instead we
carry the burden between us and sharing it does make it easier to handle. It also makes us realise just how lucky we have been throughout this race.

Over the past few days we have had a sample of what Team Stelmar went through in leg two, a hint of what Team Save the Children and Pindar may have felt being at the back of the fleet, lonely, while everyone else races ahead and we will may end up feeling Imagine It. Done.'s sense of loss coming into Cape Town as we too watch our position fall back from one that looked much more certain.

It is difficult not to think about what could have been. We were all looking forward to close quarter racing with the whole fleet within shouting distance. Some of the most memorable moments of the race for us have been the close finishes that we seem to have made our trademark. While it would have been a dream to blast in to Portsmouth and win this leg, we had at least hoped to be there for the bulk of the celebrations. Nothing quite describes the feeling of comradeship, as we are welcomed and welcome in our
friends on the other yachts. And of course seeing our family and friends on ribs and supporters boats coming to greet us for the final time amongst all the pomp and ceremony of the finish day has been in our minds from the start.

But it's not over yet. Some careful analysis of the numbers reveals we still have a chance. If Barclays Adventurer, currently in third position on this leg, come in fourth and Spirit of Sark, currently in ninth place, come in tenth and we cross the finishing line less than 17 hours after them we will maintain our second place overall. It gets a bit more complicated after that but third could still be ours thereafter. Add to that the fact that Barclays Adventurer have a protest hanging over them and as we have witnessed so many times in this race - anything can happen.

Whichever way it goes one thing is for certain. We set out from the beginning to be the best team we could. We know we are capable but hope that we have never been arrogant. We know that we have applied everything we have learnt and done it in a safe and happy environment. I believe we have all
done our best and while absolutely nothing should be taken away from every point earned and the teams that will eventually climb the podium and take their trophies, this adventure has been so much more than a race and that lifts our spirits.

It is rare to be involved in something that is truly greater than the sum of its parts and I feel privileged that I have been involved in a truly excellent example. The Global Challenge with its amazing family of crew volunteers, skippers, leggers and Challenge staff make every stopover some of the best times I've had in my life. The wonderful feeling you get when you know that your friends and family are watching and supporting you every mile and living the adventure with you. And, of course this fantastic BP Explorer team, and its supporters, that have sailed around the world. When we met for the first time back at the start of 2004 none of us could have ever hoped to have shared so much.

We can see the English coastline - we are nearly home. I am desperate to get in but at the same time, deep down, have a feeling of not wanting it to end. Bear with us on the quayside everyone, when we do get there we are going to be very happy to see you and the tears won't be ones of sadness but ones of joy.

48' 03N 006' 08W

Chilled, Balearic-style sunsets and the sparkles of shooting stars provide the overhead lightshow for this slow-paced chapter in the story of the final leg of our journey.

Like a snail on the hard shoulder of a busy motorway, making its way out into the traffic, BP Explorer is at this moment edging along at three knots with a multitude of crossing ships knitting a pattern of bright navigation lights in the blanket of darkness ahead of our bows. The throbbing sounds of their engines carry clearly across the still waters, through a slight, shivering mist.

Yesterday we were accompanied by a small, lazily-mooching shark and a very tired and lonely racing pigeon who circumnavigated the boat a few times before coming in to land. Some of us had hopes that we could help by delivering him home but we clearly weren't going fast enough for his liking; after a swift drink and a few porridge oats he was off, rejuvenated and back on his way home again. We can hardly blame him; it has definitely been a slow 24 hours.

Day three and we are now 41 miles behind the leading yacht, SAIC La Jolla, and 29 miles behind Me To You, in eleventh. If the yachts finish in their current order we would lie fourth or fifth overall so we will hope for something of a reshuffle at the front to improve things. Conditions have not given us any opportunity to make up lost ground but we are taking comfort from a number of angles; on the material side we have a delicious and bountiful diet of fresh food and beautiful weather; and we occupy our minds with a review of the highs which have punctuated our race so far - too many to mention in one sitting! Finally we have each other. In ten months we have never had more than the briefest of cross words on BP Explorer, we operate in a supportive environment and if someone is feeling down they always have
another to talk to. When asked how he was feeling today, Stephen commented: 'Actually, I feel fine - I have been very touched and moved by how everyone has helped each other in this difficult situation. That is something very special.'

As BP Explorer inches towards dawn, we have drawn level with the Ile de Sein, which is around 25 miles south of Ile D'Ouessant, due east of the next waypoint. The route for the leg is constantly under review by the Race Office back in Southampton, as they attempt to ensure that the leading boats finish around lunchtime on Saturday. The latest change to the course has seen us redirected to Devon's Eddystone Light which will no doubt be a sight for sore eyes and a pretty stirring landmark after so long from home. In
response to a rather Eeyore-ish email which I sent back to Somerset yesterday, my best mate Jo reminded me of just how significant spotting land off the West Country will be, writing: 'P.S. And remember; you have just sailed around the world! Everyone is very proud of BP Explorer.' She is right, we should all feel pretty pleased about this one, it is an adventure that we will never forget.

46 39n 03 16w

Well something really rather cruel has happened to our yacht. Yesterday while leaving La Rochelle we made a silly mistake. We passed the wrong side of a mark of the course (a buoy) and did not realise this error until we had sailed some 15 miles west. Rather than be disqualified (the penalty for missing a mark) we had to return to the buoy and pass the correct side of it.

Imagine the scene as this news was revealed to the on watch. Only hours into the final leg, powering west, the thrill of the chase to Portsmouth and the finish in our imaginations. We had to turn away from our competitors, hoist a kite, and sail backwards, until eventually they disappeared over the horizon. The disappointment was intense, there were tears for some, and many felt their dreams slipping away too.

By the time we had rounded the mark and returned to our original position we were 30 miles behind the leaders. I can only imagine the atmosphere onboard the boats in 3rd and 4th overall position - Spirit of Sark and Barclays Adventurer and indeed BG SPIRIT in 1st they just won't be able to believe it.

As for us we are racing to catch up. This team has been tested in so many ways in the latter stages of this race. I wrote once in the Atlantic 'tread softly for you tread on my dreams' but yacht racing cares nothing for this. It truly can be a bloody business. The mark of a person, or a team, is how they react in the bad times not the triumphs. Each person onboard carries around a sort of leaden feeling of slight sadness somewhere in their stomachs, but we are determined not to be defeated by this, not to let this one silly mistake define our campaign.

There are light winds until Portsmouth and even some calms. There may be the opportunity that the fleet ahead will park up and we will catch them. Such things have occurred before during the race and may occur during this leg. There is nothing we can do but hope for this and race the boat as hard as we can in anticipation.

The team has been fantastic; people have put aside their disappointment and seek to support each other. Before all this took place we had a team-build on a beach in La Rochelle. One of our leg objectives was to analyse our motives and mindset during each hour on watch. Were we in the right mindset to bring about a positive result, were we 'in the moment' focused on the task at hand? We take the business of mental preparation seriously on BP Explorer. Well it was never more needed than now. Everybody is digging deep to be the best they can be. To be the kind of people that family, friends and supporters will feel proud of. People that can overcome setback and be resolute, acting with determination and integrity.

46o09N 01o14W; La Rochelle

The final night of Leg Six and BP Explorer trembles as she skims off the backs of the waves and hurls herself forwards. She is spinning down the white horses, lifting her skirts under the boiling crests as we stretch our necks out to catch Me To You, less than a mile ahead. Two plumes of churning bow wave to port and starboard are lit up over the inky-black sea like molten, white wings. Lightning illuminates our faces in the gloaming, flashing over and over in brilliant streaks touching the coast of France. Our hull speed tops 19 knots with the next big surf and the trimmer fights to keep control of the kite.

'LET'S GET IT DOWN - NOOOW!' David's voice is urgent and edgy. We have held on long enough.

Troops gather in the cockpit, hanging on to the guy and ready for the call. 'SPIKE IT!'

'IT'S GONE!' cry the foredeck and down the halyard comes, metre upon metre of white nylon being heaved over the boom and bundled down below.

'Call trim on the yankee!'

In it comes, the boat powers up and we surge away. Then the yankee comes over - we are now poling out the No.1 and the speeds climb even higher.

'22.6 knots!!! Wooohoooo! We're gaining on them!' The helmsmen's arms have almost given up. A week ago support bandages came out as one by one they strained muscles with the effort of keeping BP Explorer heading straight as an arrow for La Rochelle through the storming kite runs. Not long now! We are eating up the miles, averaging 12 knots and we should be there by morning. We just have to keep hold of the reins and catch the yacht in front.

In the small hours the winds increase, touching gale force. Our wings of white water rise up through a huge surf, lifting above the toerails and hitting us full in the face. It is like riding an amusement park log plume - only there is nothing that is going to slow us down here!

Dawn breaks and Me To You are right next to us, just a couple of metres behind. Whilst we have the flanker up again, they are carrying their 1.5oz race kite. It looks like we also should have a lighter kite as the wind drops, but there is no time to change now. We are just minutes from the mark and we hold off Me To You, covering their every move. At the mark, we are neck and neck, but as we harden up on the breeze and drop the kite, we pull away, powering on towards the finish line, cheered by our supporters in a RIB. Second overall and with everything to play for - Leg Seven, bring it on!

46' 00N 50' 51W

Well, the situation was already pretty exciting, but it is now a building crescendo leading up to possibly the most exciting leg finish to date. Hence the fact that David is beavering away on deck and unable to fill you in on events today.

Up until now we were steadily trying to work our way up from fifth towards the podium, with a clear order of yachts to be overtaken, beginning with a consolidation of our sporadic and marginal lead over BG SPIRIT, followed by Me to You, Imagine It. Done and - if something happened to reduce their 30-mile lead - Team Stelmar. Now, all of these yachts, bar Team Stelmar, are pretty much level. It is hard to tell who is actually in front - and Team Stelmar themselves are less than ten miles away. I have a feeling that the last 24 hours are going to exhausting stuff.

We do have a list of priorities, though. Obviously the most important thing is to come ahead of BG SPIRIT, who are currently three points in front of us in the overall race. If we manage to overtake them, the more places between us the better. And it is the same with Spirit of Sark. Not only do we gain one more point for every place, but that puts one more point between ourselves and one of our two main adversaries; an important detail when it comes to the final leg.

Beyond a small patch of Biscay bubbling with literally hundreds of leaping dolphins, we could see Imagine It. Done. and Me To You when I headed for bed six hours ago - now, no doubt, there are probably even more yellow sails in view. There are 194 miles to go and the wind has not, as predicted, died, but has kept powering us straight to the mark, which means that we should arrive around lunchtime tomorrow. If there are any hold-ups, this could prove very frustrating. The port is tidal and involves a huge lock gate - tomorrow this opens between 1300 and 1530 GMT - miss it and we could have to spend an agonising ten hours outside it waiting for our beer!

47' 27N 14' 28W

For most of the race we have written our logs from the aft computer but then we moved to the navigators table so as to avoid waking those trying to sleep in the aft accommadation - the light from the screen and the annoying clickty-click of the keyboard can be a pain. Now we need total focus from Stephen and he sits glued to the navigation computers making sure we are on course every five minutes or so. So once again I'm at the back trying to type as softly as I can, freezing every time I hear someone turn in their bunks. I can hear Holger and Olly talking through the open hatch above me, they probably don't know I'm here. Holger's concerned that some of the other boats are gaining on us. The position report as we came on watch showed some slight gains across the fleet - damn! We are still holding fourth place though.

Me To You are under four miles ahead and as I write this I can hear Naomi calling back to the helm that she can see their lights on the horizon.

We have been sailing well and putting miles, and bits of miles, between us and those behind and we've been creeping up on Me To You in third place. But, with a bad position report comes that nagging doubt that maybe some of those around us have a little more wind or a kinder sea state and that maybe they could steal a position back. Barclays Adventurer and BG SPIRIT are less than three miles behind us, which is nothing. We can track Barclays Adventurer on the radar and they are a good measure of how we are doing but BG SPIRIT are about 35 miles to the north and potentially are getting different conditions. It's a testing time.

This has been a strange leg in so many ways. Just when you think you have it all figured out this ocean racing lark twists you round and you have to face new situations. One could say that in terms of sailing these boats we are hardly amateurs anymore but it seems that on this leg we have seen more things to test our confidence than any other. Spinnakers twisting in strange ways as they go up and then again getting caught on new parts of the rigging as they come down. Not errors necessarily but just bad luck.

We have also made some mistakes that seem really amateurish, kites attached wrongly, halyards twisted but perhaps now we are just being hypercritical. We have managed to sort them all out of course well before they have caused a serious problems but it does make you think all the time. Have we checked everything? have we done this so many times that we are becoming complacent? The end result is that we may be performing some procedures slower than we have done in the past. David seems to think so and is encouraging us to speed up a bit. The good news is that we haven't trashed anything, we are still a very safe crew and we have been regularly sailing faster than the rest of the fleet but as the competition heats up and days left to prove ourselves get less, everything needs to be spot on. When it comes to boat lengths at the finish there is nothing that can go slower and nothing that can go wrong. Maybe we are being hypercritical but with everything else being equal it could be the one thing that gets us the result.

47o14N 19o05W

BP Explorer accelerates down the back of another breaking Atlantic roller, up to her gunwhales in a white, roaring din of water. Shuddering from stem to stern like the Memphis Bell taking off, she tops 20 knots and from the snakepit we turn to the helm, pumping our arms in an 'L' against the early-morning sky, mimicking a train driver sounding his whistle. Grins stretch from ear to ear; the speed is exhilarating and addictive.

It is also a beautiful sight. Under cover of darkness and a shower of sharp stars, the phosphorescence weaved and span in flashing skeins through our wake like fairylights. A liquid-bright sickle moon yo-yo'd in and out of sight between the silhouetted luffs of the headsails, and a trio of dolphins - two adults and a tiny calf - urged us on towards the pink dawn which broke above a bed of silver-blue stratus cloud capping the horizon.

Everywhere was movement and a drift of cobweb-like clouds scudding high in the sky seemed to mirror the motion of the spray smoking up the backs of the grey waves. The boat is alive with noise - as we gallop onwards towards France, we screw up into the surf, and the kicker being released gives out a prehistoric groan as the boom is freed from beneath the weight of tonnes of rushing water.

Yesterday lunchtime saw us being accompanied to starboard by a lone whale (either Fin or Sei), but it seemed that we were even too fast for him. One moment putting in a dramatic breach on the beam, the next the fishy aroma from his blowhole told us that he was astern - and then, after spouting several times, he was gone.

As evening approached and the wind dropped slightly, it seemed like the perfect time to return to more mundane tasks and get down to some extreme ironing. "The things they ask me to do on mother watch," grumbled John Bass, appearing from the companionway, crumpled clothes in hand. Having made it safely to the foredeck, he set up a board and iron which we had stumbled upon in Major's cabin, and set to work. He had clearly forgotten to plug the iron in though, as it soon disappeared over the side with the next big wave - luckily not before we had committed the memory to camera.

After David's familiar bellow of 'SPIKE IT! Get it down now!' in the small hours, we are back from our edgy kite ride through the night and safe in the realm of poled-out No.1 again - the flanker preserved to fight another day.

This is a relief for the sail-repair team as sail-makers Hoods will not be servicing the fleet in La Rochelle and both a visit to another sail loft and the hire of sewing machines are against the race regulations. So it is heads up, engine whistles blasting and keep hunting down those leaders - BG SPIRIT, SAIC La Jolla and Barclays Adventurer for now behind us, our next targets are Me To You and with that a return to contending for a finish on the podium.

46' 52N 26' 52W

Tactically we have become one of the southerly boats - not what we planned. Tuesday night in varied conditions we all slid north, but most of the boats did some more spectacular sliding than us! There is 48 hours of strong downwind sailing and it remains to be seen which boat gets the better wind/sea combination. For the time being all seems well.

We are rolling along downwind with the No1 yankee poled out and full main. The wind is almost dead astern and every hour sees around 11miles knocked of the total distance to La Rochelle - easy miles.

This point of sail is a pleasure for a skipper, because its lowrisk and relatively high reward in terms of distance sailed. The poled out no1 means you roll a bit, but it is what is known as 'bullet proof'' i.e. you can have quite high deviations from the helmsman but not break anything. The onlydisadvantage is that the rolls dip the boom into the water. When this occurs it is forced upwards and this creates a lot of strain on the rig. Two people have to sit in the snake pit area holding onto ropes and release them each time the boom takes a hit. This is easy stuff though. The net result is that I am relaxed, so are the crew. Our only fear is that some 'uber crew' are able to fly the kite in conditions that we are not and are powering away from us.

All this is a far cry from the conditions this afternoon when we dropped the kite (flanker). The trouble with downwind sailing in 30kts of breeze is thatit is very fast - right up until the point when you loose control of theboat and either break one of the crew or the spinnaker. As the boat edges up to the outside of the 'control envelope' there is a lot of nervy conversation between helm, skipper and trimmer.

''Are you in control or is the boat in control of you?'' is the question I ask the helms. Often toward the end I will either be on the helm or standing by the helmsman's side as we surf and plough down the back of waves at speeds of up to 19kts. The crew will have been looking at the numbers as well as I have, and they know by the feel of the boat that it's all starting to get edgy. They will be anxious to get the kite down too - they just don't want to break it - no way do we want to have to hand stitch a spinnaker together at this stage of the game. Plus pulling down a flanker in a heavily rolling boat is frightening. Last leg a crewman on Team Stelmar was injured when he became entangled in a rope. We have had crew dragged towards the rail, only coming up short by their safety harnesses.

This afternoon was no exception, the wind rose and with it the seas and in the end we got caught by two big swells that pushed the boat into two massive rolls. Holger, the helm at the time, kept his nerve and held the boat on course and the rest of us shouted and cursed and hauled the flanker down out of the sky and into the cockpit. Once we had poled out the no1 it was all smiles again, the relief causes a nice positive feeling to flood around the boat.

''We did it - the flanker lives!'' The kettle goes on, the helms relax and we look forward to some easy miles.

Sitting on the back of the boat some time later I stared at the wake boiling and churning astern, as if released from some unseen lock gate. Many images of the trip passed through my mind and the noise of the rushing water smoothed away some creases. The volume made conversation difficult - it sounded to me as if an infinite number of crisp autumn leaves had left their branches in unison and were passing through a forest in a sustained russssshhhhh.

46o33N 31o59W

The last 24 hours have been reminiscent of the southern ocean. The yellow headsails have been up and BP Explorer has assumed the heeled at 28 degrees position. The skies have been grey and we have been pestered by a continuous drizzle. It is nothing like as cold as legs two and five but we have been in full foulies with heads ducked not to shield us from driving spray but a face tickling rain. This is David's favourite type of sailing, no kites to worry about but zooming at 11-12 knots towards our destination. For the crew it's not as comfortable both on deck and below but we are happy to be moving quickly towards La Rochelle.

We have been increasing our lead on BG SPIRIT and Spirit of Sark which is a good thing but we still have a number of yachts to get past before we can claim to be in the lead pack. Ahead of us are Barclays Adventurer - we can see them on the horizon, Me To You, Imagine it. Done, Team Stelmar then in the lead and four points behind us over all are SAIC La Jolla. We've still got a lot of work to do and have to focus on every manoeuvre as mistakes at this stage could prove very costly.

It is now less than three weeks until the end of the race and inevitably talk on the rail is not of what we'll be doing in La Rochelle , as would be the norm, but what we are going to do when it's all over. Those that have rented their houses out may not be able to move in right away and so will be staying with friends and family. Some will be returning to their old jobs but others need to start looking for work and the aft computer is occupied most of the time as crew type their CV's in their off watch and try to arrange interviews. For some of us this race has lead us to seek a totally new direction. Another adventure, starting a business that we perhaps lacked the confidence to start before or just a different career path. There is a genuine buzz of excitement as to what the future holds but we can't let it distract us from the immediate future, trimming, the next sail change the next spinnaker hoist.

Reports from the letters page indicate we seem to have some new readers including professional letter writer Ken Erskine. It's always good to know we are exciting so much interest.

45o36N 37o14W

So much for being happy with our northerly position! Confident predictions about the wind favouring our route and the reality of the North-Atlantic weather are making uneasy bedfellows right now. After our storming battle with VAIO, Pindar and Spirit of Sark on Sunday evening which saw us coming off well and speeding towards the half-way point, day dawned - or rather reluctantly eased into a grey murk - with a steady, penetrating rain and a sail-plan of yankee 1, staysail and full main. The soaking spinnakers packed away for the time being, we spent a damp Monday struggling in rapidly-changing conditions to make the best of unhelpful winds, whilst those yachts further to the south did not slow down, as we had precipitously predicted, but sped up and left us behind. This is thanks to a repeat performance of last week's trick - a low, which was expected to develop north of us, has instead done so right above our heads, bringing us fickle conditions rather than a steady northerly wind.

Even within our own misty horizon conditions varied wildly during the day. In the space of the afternoon watch we were variously becalmed, ghosting along with a kite up, re-hoisting headsails and then banging in two reefs. Just three miles or so away on the starboard beam, we could make out another yacht, possibly Team Save the Children, reaching along under a spinnaker! Though sailing the same course as us, they might as well have been in an entirely different patch of ocean as we were meanwhile hard over and hiked out on the rail. No surprise then that within the six-hour period distances covered varied greatly across the fleet. Barclays Adventurer, again sailing the same course as BP Explorer, put nine more miles than us under their belts, Imagine it. Done. 14.

As I type this the scheds have just arrived to give us the damage report. The formerly southerly boats (who have now come north), have indeed prospered, Me To You, for example, being almost 18 miles ahead. Although we do not yet have positions for Barclays Adventurer and SAIC La Jolla, it seems likely that they too will be ahead, which would put us in seventh.

This might not be news to warm the cockles of our hearts as we race through the dark, wet night, but every cloud does have a silver lining - in this case it comes in the shape of our main targets Spirit of Sark and BG SPIRIT. We have increased our lead over the former to almost ten miles and BG SPIRIT is finally in our wake rather than in front - by a distance of 2.6 miles. For now it seems a sensible plan to focus on maintaining this status quo and refrain from any other pronouncements about the wind and weather!

43o14N 47o12W

What can we do better? How can we make BP Explorer go a little bit faster than the rest of the fleet? These are the questions we ask each other all the time. How the hell did they get there when we are busting a gut doing everything we can? What more can we possibly do? We think to ourselves for fear of bringing negative vibes by saying our thoughts out loud. The fleet are getting faster, they are making less mistakes and any advantage we had at the start of the race for all the practising, all the team building and all of David's knowledge is now making less of a difference. Add to that our recent knack of finding our own private wind hole while all around us sail away and it's all a bit, dare I say it, frustrating.

At eight this morning we rounded Waypoint Charlie though things didn't quite go to plan. The wind changed direction allowing 'those that shall not be named' - you know the ones that wanted us to feel as bad in Boston as they did coming into Cape Town - to creep ahead. They are now 1.5 miles in front. We are confident and so hope to pass them soon.

Ahead of them are Spirit of Sark and BG SPIRIT and these are our real targets. We have been making small gains on them all day and at the last position reports they are just under two miles and just under four miles in front respectively.

This afternoon our good friends on Pindar were close enough for us to see them working on deck and we took the opportunity to take some pictures of Laura with Graham's boat in the background. However, some very acrobatic dolphins stole the show when they darted up between us jumping and flipping until they disappeared after a short play in our bow wave.

We had something of a surprise today when we found a card from Matt Cannon, one of the BP Explorer crew on the last leg. The message inside thanked the rest of the crew for making his experience enjoyable and gave us words of encouragement for the rest of the race. A PS at the end said that he had hidden some 'excess weight' under his bunk. On further investigation we found a stash of chocolate, cookies and sweets. Matt you are a star, the beers are on us when we next meet. Dennis Boyd, one of the BP Explorer crew members on this leg, added to making this a red letter day by bringing out a bottle of 16 year old Kentucky Bourbon as we came off watch at 6pm - we went to our bunks happy!

As the sun went down we can see all but three of the fleet, their navigation lights twinkling all around us This experience is much bigger than just a race and there will be so many great memories when we finish in July but for now wouldn't the memories be that much better if we were on the podium even with all the anxiety and stress that brings? We think so and so we are going to battle to the end.

Approaching Waypoint Charlie

Well we are not exactly where we want to be, but it's close. Side by side with Spirit of Sark for much of the night we can see the lead boats 3 to 4 miles ahead.

Spirit of Sark and BP Explorer - sometimes it feels like we would be better off welding the boats together and making a catamaran. Both crews would get more sleep and the finishes tend to be that close anyway.

The potential fly in the ointment is SAIC La Jolla, they have taken a jump forward by sailing the southern line of the course. When they went south the wind looked to be best in the north and I thought - good luck to them. A low was set to pass over Nova Scotia and it did not look like the winds would reach as far south as SAIC La Jolla. But the low passed further south than predicted and the dead winds in the middle sat over the fleet for over 24 hours. We all went nowhere while 80m to the south SAIC La Jolla powered away and for now we follow their progress with interest. They are a few points behind us and are dangerous in that they could knock us out of the podium three.

As I send this log off, there is bright morning sunshine on deck and a cold wind blowing from the west. We can count eight yachts on the horizon, all with spinnakers up, all making for Waypoint Charlie at the tip of the Grand Banks - the racing is close, close, close. Onboard the atmosphere is different on this leg, we have all travelled so far and seen so much at sea. All of the manoeuvres on deck are routine and we have to be on guard for complacency - we don't want any injuries and we don't want to break anything. We know each other very well and know how to live without conflict.

Nobody has even come close to getting off for interpersonal reasons and that is a very positive statement about the crew. We always discuss with interest things like the sudden departure of Spirit of Sark's navigator in Boston and speculate about what that might mean for crew dynamics.

After a slow start the weather is shaping up and we look like we will have some good daily runs for the next week as we enter the main body of the Atlantic. Onboard BP Explorer all is well. The main difference this trip is that the calorie count is much lower. We were not allowed to import any foodstuffs into the USA (so much for free trade) and so our daily freeze dried packs that have been shipped out to all the other ports were not an option.

The food team were sent out to the local supermarkets with the remit of keeping the boat light. This they have, there is enough food but no more. For those that put on a few pounds on our leg up the Atlantic this is a last minute chance to get fighting fit for those pictures on arrival in Portsmouth

42o33N 56o12W

Throughout the race, crew members have taken part in schools visits, clowning around in foulies, showing classes a typical meal from the boat and trying to convey what it is we have been up to. "How many miles do you think it is to sail around the world?" we have asked countless primary-school children. Dozens of small, eager hands shoot upwards, fingers wiggling, their owners desperate to get picked. "A MILLION!" is one enthusiastic, wide-eyed suggestion. "Sixty-five," a girl suggests doubtingly. "Nine thousand and fifty six and a half?" queries another, looking smug. (Then there is always the web-wise child who has done his research. "Probably about thirty-two thousand.")

Forget the right answer; some days the child with a passion for huge numbers seems to have hit the nail on the head. The oceans have a knack for searching out your weaknesses and needling away at them like a chronic toothache. And just when you thought it was all over, there is more. This was how it was in the Southern Ocean. Weeks of freezing temperatures - the wet, the aching muscles, the violent motion - seem to take months, those last thirty minutes before being able to head for bed stretching into a MILLION! Even with over a month and almost ten thousand miles behind us since then, the memory is fresh.

But now we are experiencing an entirely different kettle of flying fish. After Leg Five we thought that the calms were over and done with, and we were optimistically expecting a sleigh ride directly towards the nearest patisserie and, in many cases, dearly-missed friends and families who we have not seen since October. But for the last few days we have been floundering around in light, fickle winds, thanks to a low-pressure system developing directly over our heads. This should have built further to the north and provided us with a jet-pack of good wind to speed us to Waypoint Charlie (still 296 miles away), but the weather has not behaved as it should, as is so often the case.

There are times when luck does appear to play a big part in the reshufflings of the pack - especially in light condition such as this - and this can lead to an unsatisfying feeling as a result, the sense of not being in control of your own destiny. On the other hand, you always have the option to deal with your lot as best you can and never give up. This is invariably the attitude we adopt; on BP Explorer I believe that we react well to change and that in this way we try to remain in the driving seat whilst recognising that if there is one thing we cannot control it's the weather. As Paul Theroux writes in Dark Star Safari: 'The traveller's conceit is that he is heading into the unknown. The best travel is a leap in the dark. If the destination were familiar and friendly what would be the point in going there?'

We have certainly taken that leap in the dark and it has stretched us in more ways than we envisioned. Our destination has been neither familiar, nor, at many times, friendly. But I feel sure that the excitingly blank canvas of our daily watery horizon, the constant opportunities to make the best of everything that is throw at us, and the chance to write our own story will be over all too soon. As Matt, our BP Crew from Leg Five, emailed us yesterday - 'Don't wish away your time out there. You will be back, stuck on the M25 before you know it.'

43o05N 58o04W

Well if company was what we wanted on this penultimate leg then company is what we've got. Most of the fleet are within a couple of miles of each other and only SAIC La Jolla have separated from the pack to head south. For the most part we don't need the six-hourly position reports - we can see most of the other yachts on the radar. It does make a change from weeks at sea without seeing anyone, often anything, but with the race so close we'd prefer some pick-up in the wind to allow us to split from the pack and get ahead.

Today has been very foggy with little or no wind and the oh-so-familiar glassy sea. We plough on making sure that every base is covered, focused helm, alert trimmers and best weight distribution i.e. everyone on the low side and it is paying off. We have been creeping away from the other yachts, if only very slightly. It is light until about 9:30pm and as we sailed through the mist we caught sight of the top of Spirit of Sark's mast looking like a lost ghost ship. We caught and passed them but they disappeared almost as quickly as they appeared. But we could still hear them talking on deck - it was very eerie. Later, as we tacked, they appeared again, now dark they flashed their torches at us and we returned fire. Their mast lights more visible in the fog they remained in sight until the end of the watch but have once again vanished from sight if not the radar screen.

While not much fun for us these conditions are suiting those who have chosen to cross the Atlantic under their own power. On Tuesday we received this e-mail from Race HQ:

Dear Fleet
Olly Hicks in his rowing boat Virgin Atlantic (last posn 1430 = 20/06/2005) is listening out on channel 16 VHF hoping to speak to any yachts in our Fleet as it is very lonely out there on your own. He would dearly love to talk to someone. See what you can do. I will be updating you with the rowing boat fleets posn later today.

Many thanks all you VHF Hams
Lisa Marie
Duty Race Officer

In the early hours of yesterday we could hear Stuart, the skipper on Barclays Adventurer, talking to Olly and he sounded grateful for the chat. Rowing across the Atlantic is one way I thought I could top the Global Challenge and it is something I have been planning even before this race. It was great to hear someone actually doing it and it has heightened my interest to pursue it when I get back in July.

Good luck Olly, we've only got enough food for 14 days so if we don't get some wind soon we may need to borrow your oars and I might have to start my training early.

Old rivals at logger heads again!

Taken from News Report on 22 June 2005

They promised competition and a no holds bar fight to the end and that is exactly what the crews in the Global Challenge are doing with old rivals Spirit of Sark just three miles ahead of BP Explorer and VAIO in the 6th and penultimate leg.

BG SPIRIT – current overall race leaders – Barclays Adventurer, Imagine It. Done and Samsung, all just have 4 miles to the leader; yachts within sight of one another and competition, as always, painfully high. Team Stelmar is in 8th just three miles behind again; Pindar another 2 miles behind Team Stelmar with Team Save the Children and SAIC La Jolla – the most southerly yacht - 23 miles behind the leader.

Eero Lehtinen, skipper of SAIC La Jolla offered a reason for his team’s slow start: “Our plan to get into good breeze from the low coming up from the south has gone wrong as this system has weakened significantly and now the best breeze should be building from the north although looking at the other boats this does not appear the case! We have to limit the damage for now and find a way to use our southerly position to our best advantage.”

The yachts are currently experiencing strong downwind breezes which should continue for at least the next 24 hours, so the crews should be set for more high boat speeds and an exhilarating ride across to Waypoint Charlie.

With the overall points currently as they are with BG SPIRIT just three points ahead of BP Explorer and Spirit of Sark the Global Challenge 2004/05 could actually be won on technicality rather than speed. “The jury, which penalized BP Explorer - following a protest lodged by Imagine It. Done. - did say it was a technical breach of the rules. Certainly a first for the Global Challenge if they do lose the race overall because of this and certainly a major talking point,” cited Cal Tomlinson, Challenge Business’ sailing manager.

In Boston there was much said about Leg 6 being a 3 way battle between BG SPIRIT, BP Explorer and Spirit of Sark but there are other strong contenders ‘up there’ who are not going to make it easy for the three – with podium place winners running the length and breadth of the fleet.

Duggie Gillespie was in reflective mood when he wrote the following to Race HQ this morning: “Most importantly this leg is only 15-17 days long and with everything, I mean everything, to play for. When we arrived in Boston we had dropped to third place overall but as a result of a protest hearing one of our main rivals, BP Explorer, who had beaten us over the line by 1 minute 28 seconds, were docked three points.

“(But) what is this bigger driving force? This crew is not being paid to get up out of their bunks every four hours and race. Each have given up a lot for this project, jobs, cars, homes remortgaged, that's the motivation and the realisation that this is a unique chance for those who haven't chosen yachting as a career - not just sailing but racing round the world the wrong way! The value is high to each individual crew member. As a team though we too have put in place a set of values. These values are our constant gold standard that we have come back to time and time again when the focus slips or conflict threatens to disrupt the cohesion we have worked so hard to build over the last 18 months and 30,000 miles. And I believe it works. Even as skills and abilities have improved we have needed constant re-evaluation and reminders to keep ourselves in check.

“It's about keeping fresh and invigorated, particularly at this late stage, when monotony can be a great enemy against the urgency required by racing. With less than twenty days left at sea in the whole of this Global Challenge there is a real sense of straining to savour each moment of just being out here, racing across the North Atlantic and enjoying it! This leg is, so far, no different to the last one in that we have not yet been alone, out of sight of our opponents. This is boat on boat racing again for thousands of miles. If that isn't focus enough then what is?”

The fleet is currently on a straight-line chase to Waypoint Charlie - designed to keep the yachts off the banks of Newfoundland –, which should be reached, in the next few days.

- Ends -

Further boat quotes:

“Our general strategy is to sail north of the fleet, avoiding the high-pressure system further South and to catch some of the low-pressure system (and therefore stronger winds) north. Ideally, we can then 'dip' further north to increase wind speed, and 'dip' south if lighter winds are required. We are therefore currently the northern most boat, in the company of BG, Me to You & Pindar who are all within visual range. Winds increased this morning and we peeled to our heavier kite, the Flanker. We are expecting the wind to shift forward later which will mean sailing close hauled on foresails.” Clive Cosby, Team Stelmar

“We are now trying to make maximum use of our northerly position where we have more wind than the southerly boats. We have already had 2 good skeds and hopefully these will continue. We are now having to decide how best to deal with the wind hole, which is due tomorrow. Hopefully at our current speed we will pass ahead of it as it moves north.” James Allen, Me to You

“Staying slightly north of the rumb line has put us in a tactically good positions since the wind is going to fill from the north and build slowly. We’ll then head slightly down towards the waypoint with a good angle and breeze...over the last few hours we have gained on the fleet to the south of us and the wind is steadily building.” Loz Marriott, Pindar

“The crew of BP Explorer are enjoying fast downwind sailing - with more wind than originally forecast and we’ve been making 11 knots in flat water and clear blue skies. We are taking a line slightly left of the great circle route to the waypoint - as this avoids the worst of the light winds in the high pressure to the right.” David Melville, BP Explorer

42 58n 61 00w

It has been a gentle start to leg 6 and at present we are reaching with the spinnaker up making around 10kts straight for the waypoint. We are just on the edge of the Grand Banks continental shelf and keep encountering little pockets of current - sometimes 0.5kt with us and annoyingly for a while Tuesday afternoon, over 1kt against us. The fleet is spread out north to south with just a few miles separating first and tenth. This will be another very tight leg with minutes between the yachts at the finish.

We have maps of the Gulf Stream which lies to the south and the warm water eddies which spin off it. Then there is the cold water Labrador current that lies to the north and opposes us. There are a number of good websites which detail all of this, and maps downloaded before we left are spread all over the chart table. (try putting in rads/tudelft in google) Its even possible to buy up to £1,000 worth of Gulf Stream information from experts in the field (we have not). Needless to say that while we encountered 1 kt of current against us, the maps clearly showed that we should be enjoying half a knot from astern - doh! I guess nobody told the Gulf Stream.

We are all glad to be on our way back across the Atlantic and me in particular. I had a lousy time in Boston. I spent the first week worrying about the protest and the second week dealing with the fallout. I very much hope that the results of the competition are not decided by the few points that we were deducted. What was good was seeing my son Jasper do his 'Frankenstein walk' as he mastered the art of life on two feet.

Laura said to me that ''when we leave Boston you will be able to hear the wheels skidding on the gravel as we pull out of the car park'' I knew exactly what she meant. We went out to the start meaning business. While others took a more relaxed approach we put the sails up early and with the Boston skyline behind us, timed a number runs to the start. Normally I take a modest approach to leg starts, but this time I felt it would be nice to show the fleet that our heads were up and we were back in business. We hit the line with seconds to spare and lead the fleet out of Boston. It was a great lift for us all, meaningless in the long run, but still a magic little moment.

Tactically it is slow stuff at the moment. We are reaching along in relatively constant winds and there may be a slight advantage for the boats to the north. We hope to get little lifts from the current being slightly south. If it would only co-operate. A lot of the small changes that you see may well be due to boats running into little eddies. What we like on this boat is change. Putting sails up and down and reacting to changing circumstances is like going through the gears of a car. Both watches are fast and proficient now and we look forward to the weather livening up a bit.

42' 41N 66' 24W

The introduction to the Global Challenge for our new BP Explorer Crew, Americans Drew Morrell and Dennis Boyd, has been a peaceful one. Since an exciting and close start, we have been gliding through calm seas, accompanied by dolphins and pilot whales. "This is just like the brochure," Dennis enthuses, "and not dissimilar from sailing on Lake Michigan!" Drew, from Long Beach, California, is well used to a relaxed attitude but has been struck by the atmosphere on board: "Obviously the racing is fierce, but it is very laid back - it's great!" Not all of our BP Explorer Crew have had such gentle conditions to settle into and, indeed, it really would be helpful to have some more wind. If we continued at this speed, we would not get to France until 16 July, and according to our diaries we have an entirely different party to go to that day!

Currently heading through the Fundian Channel, we are just about to cross from Maine to Nova Scotia, 60 miles to the north. Not far away is the Bay of Fundy, famous for having the greatest tidal flow in the world, followed a close second by my home waters of the Bristol Channel. Out here the seas
are a somewhat different colour than I see there, in Watchet Marina, but the air has certainly had a more familiar feel to it since we left Boston. There is a fresh warmth to the bright, beautiful days, with no hint of the mugginess we have grown used to, and by night it is startlingly clear and nippy - a climate just like the best of an early, English summer! The
sunsets are pretty good too; last night, as the sun sank over our left shoulder, the full moon was already risen as we were surrounded by a perfect horizon of seamlessly melted pinks to blue and the bright light of Venus to the north-west.

The prognosis for the next few days is more of the same - no doubt we will be able to see other Challenge yachts for much of the journey, with everyone desperate to cover their positions and fight for more points. About four days away is Waypoint Charlie, at 42o North, which has been added to the
course to keep the fleet south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and the ice brought down from the Arctic shelf by the Labrador Current.

Another reminder that we are heading home is that we are now charting our progress from left to right on the computers - a very disconcerting sight after all that sailing the 'wrong way' at the bottom of the world. VAIO are
out in front of us, slightly to the south, whilst we have Spirit of Sark to port and Barclays Adventurer and Samsung neck and neck to starboard. It is not clear whether we lie in third or fourth at this precise moment, but the scheds, due in an hour, will hopefully bring us some good news.

42' 41N 66' 24W

The introduction to the Global Challenge for our new BP Explorer Crew, Americans Drew Morrell and Dennis Boyd, has been a peaceful one. Since an exciting and close start, we have been gliding through calm seas, accompanied by dolphins and pilot whales. "This is just like the brochure," Dennis enthuses, "and not dissimilar from sailing on Lake Michigan!" Drew, from Long Beach, California, is well used to a relaxed attitude but has been struck by the atmosphere on board: "Obviously the racing is fierce, but it is very laid back - it's great!" Not all of our BP Explorer Crew have had such gentle conditions to settle into and, indeed, it really would be helpful to have some more wind. If we continued at this speed, we would not get to France until 16 July, and according to our diaries we have an entirely different party to go to that day!

Currently heading through the Fundian Channel, we are just about to cross from Maine to Nova Scotia, 60 miles to the north. Not far away is the Bay of Fundy, famous for having the greatest tidal flow in the world, followed a close second by my home waters of the Bristol Channel. Out here the seas
are a somewhat different colour than I see there, in Watchet Marina, but the air has certainly had a more familiar feel to it since we left Boston. There is a fresh warmth to the bright, beautiful days, with no hint of the mugginess we have grown used to, and by night it is startlingly clear and nippy - a climate just like the best of an early, English summer! The
sunsets are pretty good too; last night, as the sun sank over our left shoulder, the full moon was already risen as we were surrounded by a perfect horizon of seamlessly melted pinks to blue and the bright light of Venus to the north-west.

The prognosis for the next few days is more of the same - no doubt we will be able to see other Challenge yachts for much of the journey, with everyone desperate to cover their positions and fight for more points. About four days away is Waypoint Charlie, at 42o North, which has been added to the
course to keep the fleet south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and the ice brought down from the Arctic shelf by the Labrador Current.

Another reminder that we are heading home is that we are now charting our progress from left to right on the computers - a very disconcerting sight after all that sailing the 'wrong way' at the bottom of the world. VAIO are
out in front of us, slightly to the south, whilst we have Spirit of Sark to port and Barclays Adventurer and Samsung neck and neck to starboard. It is not clear whether we lie in third or fourth at this precise moment, but the scheds, due in an hour, will hopefully bring us some good news.