Done Rio!

Well we made it to Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday night, with my Auntie Susie, Dad, Mission Performance support team and many others to welcome us in through the darkness to the Gloria Marina for the first of many cool drinks. We had some good fast sailing for the last day which was a great way to finish the race.

After a good uninterrupted nights sleep, the following day was spent doing a deep clean of the boat and taking stock of what food was needed for the next leg to Cape Town, with an estimated time of 18 days to get there, 11 days less than our last leg (but of course these things can change as King Neptune has been very keen to tell us already!). Having loaded the boat back up I then was able to have a couple of nights in a hotel (fantastic, bed, shower and breakfast; the simple things you miss are amazing).

On Friday there were a few minor repairs to the sails to be done but otherwise there wasn't much damage to the boat, this was followed by a race crew briefing telling us what to expect in the next leg , fast and furious seems to be on the agenda, so that will be fun! Then time to see Rio, I caught a taxi with Alan, Rob and my Dad as guide to Sugarloaf Mountain and up the cable car for some great views with Corcovado looking down over the city, another taxi to the famous Copacabana beach before catching a metro train back to the boat. In the evening the whole crew went out for a super meal (salad, fresh meat and, fruit, more things that you really miss), I got to meet a very nice guy called Martin who is a farmer from Essex and enjoys hunting and horses so we will have lots to talk about as he is racing to Cape Town with us.

So it is off to the boat now, race start is in 4 hours and I have to buy some biscuits to hide on board, watch out next week for some interviews I did for Look North and Radio York when in port.

We are ready to race and get to Cape Town first, so to you all I say...........  #HoldFast,    here We come!