It has now been three months of hard graft. Since I got back to the UK I have not stopped.

Things that go bang in the night are never a good thing for a Vendée skipper and tonight on Medallia we had a big bang.

Just this second one wave has hit Medallia side on, smashing over the top of the cockpit so water has come down below to where I am sitting, at the same time we are surfing down a wave from behind. It is impossible to stand or move around without holding onto something and going forward in the dark to reef the main I am just crawling on hands and knees.

The forecast is nothing short of terrible. There is already a lot of wind, gusting 34 knots right now, and it is going to stay like that for the next four days. The system approaching us right now is messy with intense areas of breeze, many changes in wind direction which will result in a terrible sea state and it's moving fast.

We feel like we are back in the groove today. I've done sail changes, reefs in and out all day and Medallia has been cruising her way through the waves in that downwind style we got so used to at the beginning of the race.

With just about a week left to go we are expecting to meet with at least one big weather system and once again the boat feels small against the size and power of nature