Hello everybody!

Well, I’m home! I made it! As I understand it my mother has been keeping all of you updated with my two journeys across the Atlantic Ocean. Firstly, I apologise for any ‘toilet humour’ that may have crept in, but it wasn’t the easiest thing to deal with. However, thanks to my wonderful fellow crew member, ‘Farmer’James, also known to all as ‘Daddy’ for his genuine and consistently good-humoured care of eveyone, we had a new toilet for the port side fitted in Rio, which made things a lot easier!

Secondly, I want to thank you all hugely for your incredible generosity. It was completely unexpected by me. As you may or may not know, I initially set out to raise in the region of £2,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Through your big-hearted donations you have helped raise £10,610.46 including Gift Aid. You can imagine my facial expression mid-Atlantic when I received an email from my father telling me the running total. I still can’t believe it. Thank you so much!

The experience that I have had on the boat is unparalleled – if you do find anything that may compare, then let me know….just don’t tell my father! Three years ago I never would have imagined that I have done what I have done today. Living on a 68 foot yacht with 17 strangers was nerve wracking to say the least, but we quickly became a micro community and had behaviours akin to a family.

The physical challenge is obvious. Bringing the sails up from below deck, raising the sails, dropping the sails, packing the sails, trimming the sails and so on. The constant movement of the boat does however provide for a great toning exercise and can be highly recommended! My ultimate favourite part of sailing has to be the extreme weather, it makes you feel alive. The waves come crashing over the boat and there is nothing you can do to stop them giving you a royal soaking. Fantastic! The difficult times on the boat were generally brought about through heat exhaustion, sea sickness and sleep deprivation. All of the crew suffered from at least one of these at some point during the race. But like I said, every single crew member had the ‘get up and go’ that is demanded by the race and not once was anyone held back.

The best moments include being on the helm in bad weather, with the boat rising over the mountainous waves and crashing down into what looks like a big black hole. The wildlife too – especially seeing the dolphins swim alongside the boat at night time, playing in the phosphorescent surf, not forgetting the day time when you see the dolphins race towards you from what seems like hundreds of metres away. Other special moments include whales swimming alongside us, turtles, sea lions and the day before our arrival in Cape Town we even saw a shark, so you can imagine how careful every crew member was at that point to not fall overboard!Another poignant moment was after around 1,500 nautical miles of racing across the ocean, on leg two, our boat crossed paths with the boat sponsored by Singapore. You can’t believe your eyes when this happens. Thousands of miles of ocean around you and you come within metres of each other, we could almost see the colour of their eyes! It was very funny though as both of our boats upon spotting each other had the binoculars up on deck, spying to see what sail plan we had.

Leaving the family that WTY has become was emotional to say the least. Having sailed with a set of fantastic sailors who are indeed from all walks of life, the journey that I have been on has gone all too quickly, but I know that it has affected me for the better. Working in a team that lives together within 68 feet of each other was perhaps the biggest test of all, but has taught me to be more tolerant, more determined and ever more competitive. Now to apply these newly developed attributes to my everyday life.

Once again, I thank you all for your generosity and thank you for following me during my adventure across the Northern and Southern Atlantic.

Leonie.