As you may know by now the last two boats (LMAX & Qingdao) are safely in, but failed to make it to Cape Town fast enough to knock us off our podium position. So we had the pleasure of bundling up onto the stage at the race prize-giving to collect our third place pennant and very stripy bottle of Stormhoek fizz. It was great to be up there, and we’re determined this won’t be the last time…

  
What we hadn’t expected – though, with our crack team of supporters back home, we shouldn’t have been surprised – was also to be awarded the Social Spirit prize.  This prize is intended to encourage integration between supporters at home and crew on board, and between returning leggers and those who’ve yet to join us. Think of it as a reward for being one big happy family.

  
The winners for Leg 1 were, quite rightly, Ichorcoal; but this time – thanks to a ruthless campaign of UK parties, letters, video messages, a school project, and a Twitter or Facebook posting every five nanoseconds – it was our turn.  The surprise was slightly dulled by the fact that the Clipper cameraman had his lens glued, Oscars-style, to Ash’s face during the two minute pre-amble to the award; but another pennant, another bottle of fizz, a very happy crew, and a big thank you to all of you at home who made it happen. You know who you are!

The pennants were taken straight back to Garmin & hoisted that night but, owing to the tired and emotional state of the crew, were a little wonky. I’ll post a pic when they’re flying straight…