And so here I am, screaming my way through the north Atlantic, racing an IMOCA double handed to Brazil. My whole year has led me to this point. I have followed my critical path, taken next step after next step and all of a sudden it is eleven months down the line and I have been let loose with the big boys.

Dates and time have very little meaning out here. Every day I check my watch to see what date it is then count on my fingers what day of the race that we are on but in reality to us, living in this moment time is marked more by geographical or weather cues than by the passage of hours, minutes or days.

I am sitting down below at the computer and it is not a pleasant experience. As we near the equator and the temperature keeps on rising conditions below decks in my airless carbon sweat box are only just bearable.

What can I say? We havehave had an absolutely amazing run, it has been incredible as well as exhausting but I can’t stop smiling. There has been some big breeze in the past 24 hours and we have been changing our sails regularly to get the best possible out of Superbigou.