Sam Davies will enter the channel back into Les Sables d'Olonne very early this afternoon, around 1215hrs UTC (1315hrs local time) and is expected to get a warm welcome for her remarkable solo round the world achievment which she completed last night. As she waited for daylight and today's tide to fully enjoy the moment Sam Davies had not been idle. In an initiative which is typical of the English skipper she spent last night scribing a giant heart with the wake of her Initiatives Coeur on the waters off Les Sables d'Olonne.
Getting back to 'normal' part 2, the internationals
It is more than two weeks now since Pip Hare finished her Vendee Globe and she is now back at home in Poole, England. Didac Costa has returned to work with the Fire Service in Barcelona and Kojiro Shiraishi has flown back to Japan where he has two weeks of quarantine to serve before he can rejoin his family, friends and sponsors. Meanwhile it is less than a week for Miranda Merron who is enjoying a gentle decompression in Les Sables d'Olonne not least waiting to welcome back Sam Davies on Friday
Isabelle Joschke "I just want to enjoy this sunny day, to feel and enjoy the stillness under my feet, right now, nothing more."
Isabelle Joschke (MACSF) enjoyed a huge, warm welcome back to Les Sables d'Olonne today as she completed her round the world passage out of the race. Her bravery and sheer determination to bring her boat back to Les Sables d'Olone after retiring from the race in early January was acknowledged by a passionate welcome.
Ari Huusela FIN (Stark): My last 24 hours has been horrible and then it eased off during the night a bit and I started to get some rest because I could not sleep for about 30 hours. The waves were so nasty and the wind was quite bad, 30-35kts, and then it dropped to 28 but the waves were terrible, the seas horrible, the wind had turned 180 degrees and so the sea state was horrible. The boat was slamming so hard I thought it would break down. The boat is still in one piece and I am in one piece. There is still some sticky weather patterns to come and so I need to concentrate on the them. I have not updated myself yet because I am so tired I am just trying to sleep a bit and then concentrate.
