Yen Nguyen

We needed to get to Madeira in good time for Luke's flight so braved the very choppy upwind passage with engine. I kept watch and management of the auto tiller for the whole passage and didn't quite trust myself to spend any time below with such choppy waters - so ended up rather wet and cold but overall fine! Hurrah! Wind and gusts were even more than forecasted which made for a very wet and bumpy final approach into Quinta do Lorde marina. Skipper handled the entry with finesse!

Big passage and my longest so far. Easy navigation but not enough wind to keep sailing the whole way. We did go through all the points of sail - downwind, close reach and even close haul, moving between port and starboard as the wind changed. Had 2 bouts of dolphin pods joining us for a while, with one around a stunning sunset. The mid-autumn full moon was also in sight. Overall a lovely passage and first sail with Luke!

Started before sunrise to catch the favourable tides and get to Dublin in good time for a Guinness. But oh my it was immediately challenging with force 6 and then 7 winds that beat us down and lashed us with wave-loads of water. So I was told - I was barely functional after the first bit to hoist sails and get going. Limited sleep, no food and being complacent with taking tablets took its toll. Thank goodness for the super strong team, though even skipper suffered.

Good downwind then beam turning to close reach and 2 reefs! Spicy. Had to change my flight back to London and hoping it’ll be worth it and we’ll make it to Dublin! Going well so far.

Lovely sail to begin with as we headed southwards to Islay. Had a bit of time with the spinnaker before the wind dropped and we decided to turn on the engine. A short while in, the engine stopped and there ensued a few hours of skipper trying to fix it to no avail and we eventually decided to sail on through the night, skipping Islay and other ports in favour of a large well-connected port on the mainland with marine engineers available. Had dead moments of no wind where we seriously reconsidered other ports but thankfully it became mostly 20+ knots of wind, beating the whole way and making me feel slightly terrible!

Last RORC race of the season and I'm finally able to join Quailo (Nicholson 55) on one of the races. Perfect winds often on the beam, enabling us to do much on it on one tack after leaving the Solent! Strong winds on Quailo meant a lot of weather helm and I was sweating and worn out even with just 45 mins on the helm during the night watch. It did help to keep away the cold at least! We arrived many hours earlier than expected and was glad for a proper, though short, kip before exploring Cherbourg. And big milestone for me - first time to cross an international border! Hurrah!