Shirley's aching forearms

Our Europe Gold medallist tells of her first day on board Jacobite in the Swan Europeans

Day one of the Nautor Swan European Regatta in Cowes and my forearms ache a lot! Unlike my Volvo, the Swan 48 Jacobite has no power steering and when fully loaded is extremely grunty. Gone are the days of steering with two fingers in the Europe.

With the wind in the north west, the course set by the Royal Yacht Squadron was much more akin to sailing on Loch Earn than the sea. We tight reached and fetched our way back and forward from the mainland shore to the island, for the first half of the race.

Being one of the slowest Swans in the big boat class was quite frustrating today. With the course as it was there were few tactical options and we had no choice but to follow the other boats in dirty wind or foot off below them.

Jacobite runs beautifully - you can sail her at 180 degrees as long as you don't mind rocking and rolling downwind. I'm looking forward to having some windward/leeward courses so we can catch everyone up on a run. We could take a huge amount of distance out of all the boats that are reaching back and forwards around us.

Not only did we struggle with the dirty wind from the faster boats today, but also an interfering press helicopter. It was definitely not advantageous to have an Olympic Gold medallist on board today with the backwind from the helicopter backing your genoa for 15 minutes...after a very large Pimms and after giving the cameraman a good talking to, I'm feeling a bit more relaxed about it.

It's not just sailing with a crew of 13 people that's new to me, steering to the instruments is also a whole new experience. After trying to steer on the instruments for a while, I went back to the tell-tales and things seemed to go a lot better. Adjusting the backstay constantly helped considerably, too tight and I struggled to keep her in the groove. It is very strange sailing a boat with no real feel.

Today has been the start of what is a steep learning curve for me, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. It's just the aching forearms I'm not looking forward to. Roll on power steering for Swans!