February, glorious sunshine and light tradewinds. Given that this race involves many islands/ corners/ land effects, which means lots of places where getting the tactics right we will be crucial, we decided to sail part of the course to get an idea of what is in store. There wasn't much wind, but we did have the most glorious night of downwind sailing in 14 - 17 knots, not a cloud in sight, and millions of stars. It doesn't get much better than that. We learnt a fair amount about land effects, and also went sightseeing around the active volcano on Montserrat (not too close!).

Michael, Niall and John are now familiar with the boat, and we are looking forward to racing tomorrow, especially against our fellow Class40s. Miranda/ 40 Degrees