Leaving day. The camp site was dismantled on deck and we had a run round to get milk and bread etc. The first leggers packed up all their gear and, sadly, left us. They will be a real miss on board. But we have a keen new crew who are rarin' to go so lets hear from some of them....

" Well Monday started with everyone running ashore getting all the last minute things that were needed before the race got underway. We set off after eleven o'clock and motored out of Bergen. We watched all the boats raise their sails and start warming up for the coming race. As the start wasn't until later that evening, we stopped at a little port to have our dinner, unfortunatly we had to move again almost straight away as the local ferry was due to arrive and we had docked in its berth. We had a good meal of soup and bread rolls before we reached thae start line. At about eight o'clock we were all on deck listening to the radio when we heard a voice from race control saying "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GUN!!" and we heard a loud explosion from the nearby navy frigate. That was what we had been waiting for and now the race was underway. It was amazing seeing all these boats with full sails and no engines blasting past us, and we were overtaking a few of them too. We soon found ourselves up amongst the leaders of the race and we were amazed that we were keeping up with the huge square riggers. Many of had not realised that we were in with a chance of getting a prize. Soon after we really started sailing, the first victims fell to seasickness. Many people felt a bit queasy down below, however they were fine as soon as they came up on deck. People quickly got used to life aboard and the seasickness soon vanished as they got used to the routine of sleeping, eating and going on watch. As i write this we are in third place in our class as far as we know, and we are still up amongst the leaders. I never expected it to be as good as this and I wish we could carry on going forever. " Eilidh