It was very hard work; it was frustrating for us we were second of first for most of the race. Every time we got in the lead, we would be passed and then we would have to do it again, and again. We did it one more time just before the finish and then PUMA slipped past us. But it is great to get third, the guys did an awesome job it was really hard work for them, but I can’t deny I’m frustrated we didn’t do better.
How challenging a job has it been for you, you had to juggle so many factors there.
It was really complicated with the forecast, it wasn’t really simple, there was a lot of guess work to be honest! We were going on educated guesses, and just trying to do the right thing. Ian is hugely supportive and so are the two watch captains and that make’s your life so much more easy. That is half the battle if you feel that they will support you even if it goes wrong then you’re much more likely to do what you think is right and not just make the safe decisions. It’s good, it is a good relationship.
Do you think that relationship makes a difference when you have to push and not have a lots of sleep etc?
I am sure that is the same for the whole fleet we probably did more tacks and gybes on this leg than any other leg in the race and that is just hard work on people because you have to get them up when they are off watch, just shifting gear backwards and forwards so it is hard work for everybody and for us to say you have to tack now and realize that they aren’t going to get any sleep. But people were just happy to do it and I think it would have been the case whether we were first of last so that’s one of the good things about the guys onboard.
