So.. they are here at last, the owners have arrived with loads of luggage which they are trying to squeeze into any of my crooks and grannies they can find. It’s all a bit demeaning for a fine yacht such as me. Have I introduced myself? The name’s Halsway (pronounced Halsi) Grace and I am from the Najad stable and though I say it myself I am rather handsome – 40 feet of solid looking vessel, white with striking burgundy coloured trim and teak decks (sometimes I can look rather dishevelled, they’re not strong on cleaning!)

Anyway I am going to take them on a bit of a jaunt across the Atlantic Ocean together with some of my mates, well about 250 of them actually. We will be setting sail on 20th November at 12md. but there’s lots to do before then.

Well, I thought we could have a bit of a flutter on how long it will take me to get there. Sue’s sister Niki has already set the ball rolling by suggesting 24 days. Of course she’s in the know cos she’s done it before but then she was in a bigger boat and they were much younger than my lot! So I reckon you need a bit of ‘form’ I think they call it in the trade. The distance is about 2,700 nautical miles, give or take a hundred or so and we reckon to travel at about 5-6 knots on average, they are much the same as imperial miles. Of course it does depend on the wind which can be very fickle, we don’t want too much or too little. About 12-15 knots would be great, coming from nearly behind.

So, we’ll keep a tally of your prediction and whoever is the closest when we reach St Lucia will get a special mention in the blog and a photo of my skipper dipping his tootsies in the Caribbean. So stick a pin in it or try some more scientific calculations and start sending in the bets. it can be as  precise as days, hours and minutes. Bets can be taken up until 19th November but then NO MORE CORRESPONDING WITH THEM UNTIL THEY REACH ST LUCIA PLEASE, THE SATELLITE PHONE CONNECTION WILL BE FOR WEATHER ROUTING ONLY! 

Keep watching this site, they’ll try to update most days on the countdown to ‘the off’

Adios for now

HG