Needles to St Cats in 35 minutes

James Boyd recounts his experience sailing on board Maiden II in the Round the Island Race

As we get out into the Solent, it seems that the forecast is wrong and we have more breeze than expected. The B&G instruments show 16-17 knots true from 228degT. There is a mixture of ominous clouds and blue sky, typical of an occluded front passing through. We gather round as Brian gives us a briefing about the game plan, the forecast, the expected manoeuvres, the likely sail combinations required. "There's more breeze which is good for the record, but the directions means we will have to beat down to the Needles, which isn't good," he says.

In addition to the regular crew, led by Thompson, Helena Darvelid and Cahalan, today we have on board star Volvo crew in the form of Tyco's Damian Foxall, Amer Sports Too's Miranda Merron and former SEB man Rodney Keenan, of Doyle NZ, who is handling the sail development side of the programme. The skipper herself, Tracy Edwards, is not on board as her baby daughter is sick.

Overall one gets the impression of a egalitarian, highly competent crew, who all get on well, a slightly different atmosphere to the more dictatorial style of the boat's previous owner or on PlayStation.

Helena Darvelid gives us 110ft cat newbie sailors a safety briefing - do not fall overboard, do not stand within the likely trajectory of heavily loaded blocks, watch out for spinning coffee grinders, etc.

By 0800 we are out into the Solent and there's 30 minutes until the start. It's time to hoist the main. To raise this 350sqm sail which with battens weighs a hefty 520kg, requires considerable effort on the part of the eight crew who man the coffee grinders (they can and do harness ALL of the coffee grinders on board to get the main up). 10 minutes and a near coronary later, the giant sail is up, the lazy jacks are tamed and the downhaul cranked on. We then hoist the Solent jib.

Cross sheeting makes for a cat's cradle of rope