10 days on the Tour Voile

Duncan McDonald was one of the non-students sailing with the British team

McDonald feels that the competition this year is much better: "The results have been up and down, and it has been a really close competition.The French student teams are extremely experienced, Thales actually led the whole regatta for the first four days."

The team has a number of extremely talented sailors. Shaw, helm, is the current Student Yachting World Champion. Williams was a close second at the last UK Olympic trials in the Soling, and Jeremy Elliot has a wealth of sailing knowledge and experience under his belt.

The offshore races brought another dimension to their sailing and one that none of the crew had experienced before. "The whole crew was sick on the first offshore, apart from myself and Mike Broughton. The average offshore race is approximately 100 miles. Usually on an offshore leg you would have a watch and some of the guys would get some sleep, but because of the short distance no one can sleep. It's flat-out racing all the way through," said McDonald.

Richard Bonham-Christie, father of Peter Bonham-Christie of the British student team, has made the whole event possible for them. He raised the capital for the boat and has also hired a 1979 Greyhound bus (it used to work in the States and has just over 1.3 million miles on the clock) for the whole event. The bus is driven round to the various stops on the Tour for the team to stay on. They also have their own cook and it has become a bit of a magnet for unwinding and socialising within the camp.

McDonald commented : "It's a really nice and friendly set up. The atmosphere is very relaxed - not only within our team but also the event as a whole. I'm not sure what has made the difference, but the French are a lot more friendly and the event seems certainly more relaxed."

There are more than 100 tents and marquees that move with the Tour, packing up as the boats leave and then setting up again before the boats arrive - a logistical nightmare, but McDonald says that the whole thing has been run without a hitch. "Overall the event so far has been formidable. It's a tough event and there is not much time during the whole event that is not spent sailing. This year the Navigator's Bar has been the place to socialise - it gives everyone a chance to relax a bit and exchange views - the free Stella helps as well."

McDonald concluded: " They have put in an admirable performance so far and they are certainly capable of achieving their goal. They are improving and learning all the time. What is really interesting to see is that the New Zealand team is really struggling with this event. It's great that our guys are doing so well in amongst a fleet of professionals."