The skipper writes: We were not having a bad race at all and were very happy at the start as we ate up class B and kept pace with some of the C and D vessels. The breeze veered to the southeast and picked up giving us an exhilerating ride up the Baltic. As we closed the Estonian coast, we realised the gaff was showing signs of becoming detatched from its jaws so we lowered the main and lashed it all together whilst continuing to race with our headsails. The whole thing took about two hours and the breeze died right away so that when we did rehoist the whole shooting match, we weren't going any faster than when we dropped it.
By now we were close to Black Diamond of Durham, skippered by my old mate Cal. The two boats largely stayed in contact for the rest of our race.
We found a patch of light airs and thick fog as we turned the corner in to the Gulf of Finland and headed east. This was where the wind turned against us and began to blow harder. The forecasts were confused and there were reports suggesting gale and storm force winds. With the damage aloft we agreed together that it might be better to retire and ensure we reached St Petersburg in one piece which is what we did.
The fleet got hit quite hard and I understand two vessels were dismasted. Certainly we were very glad to make it here motoring gently across the oily flat sea outside the city in glorious sunshine.
From Russia with love....
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