With the hard work of the first leg over we sit with an inward glow of contentment and a smug grin on our faces as we watch other crews finish, chuffed with our achievement we moor up next to ROC and take the lines of second placed Stardancer before we wander up to the yacht club bar to sample the legendary hospitality of the Azorean people, the bar remained open for 24hrs a day for the whole of our stay, if that isn’t hospitality, I don’t know what is!

 In addition the town of Porto Del Garda laid on sightseeing trips around the town and to the East of the island to visit the Green Lake, the volcano and hot springs. We visited a magnificent hotel set in fabulous gardens, where we had a huge meal which had been cooked in the hot steam, spewing from the ground, and on the way back we had a guided tour of a tea plantation, before once again returning to the marina and quite naturally the bar!

After a fairly quick passage we had nine days of R&R to relax and enjoy the company of the other crews and listened to their experiences of their race, we heard tales of great heroic feats of seamanship and of unselfish attempts to give assistance to others.

 Other treats were the reception dinner, a five course feast, washed down with large quantities of wine and the presentation evening in the yacht club where we were entertained by a local band and presented with commemorative plaques, along with trophies for the first leg, not to mention the mystic act of levitation presented by John and Alex Head of Quaker Girl fame! One thing that sticks in my mind is the courteousness on the roads of the local drivers who will stop to let you cross, if you even look as if you want to cross, let alone hover with your foot over the curb!

 All good things must come to an end though, we had made lots of new friends, enjoyed their company and conversation but time had slipped by, it was time to replenish food supplies and prepare for the return leg, talk had turned to weather forecasts, tidal currents and would we exit north or south of the Island?. There are lots of options and success would depend on the right strategy

There was one last act which brought a tear of pride to our eyes. On the day before the restart, the last boat to arrive was greeted by a spontaneous round of applause and a cheer from all the competitors who had gathered on the quay side to welcome them in, yes they were the last boat in, but that mattered not, they had battled head winds and had spent longer at sea than others but they were just as much a part of this race as the first one there. The boats name….. Late Arrival !