Michel Desjoyeaux had a fantastic result with his first place finish; I’d like to send my congratulations to him. And now Armel Le Cléac’h has come in second place with favourable breeze to finish his Vendée journey this weekend. I am watching Sam’s movements very closely, and I am confident she can maintain third position. She has done such an amazing job, we are all very proud of her. Then we’ve got Brian, Dee and Steve to look forward to welcoming back to safe land....it should be a great welcome home party!

Whilst my boat is still in the shed having her repairs done, I am currently in New Zealand watching the America’s Cup. This New Zealand trip was the perfect opportunity to visit boat builders and suppliers for future project builds, and to also spend some time meeting with my Business partner Sir Keith Mills, who is the Principal for Team Origin.

I also headed down here to catch up with my younger brother, Dave, who I haven’t seen for 6 months. He has been sailing double handed around the world in the Portimão Global Ocean Race. New Zealand is a stop over for him, so it's a great chance to meet up and swap sailing stories!

I will be back in the UK mid February by which time the boat should be nearing the end of her repairs and I can finalise our plans for the year

More on that later!

Alex