© Jean-Louis Carli

The start of the Retour à La Base was a good few hours ago. Currently, we are passing the prohibited zone which protects us from all the fishing area and hazards. So there has been a bit of a detour out round the south of Martinique. Night fell and we were upwind. I am surrounded by boats and I am in the leading group. All is well on board. The first night alone is always special, you don't necessarily sleep a lot. So I'm getting ready to stay up a bit to try to push the boat hard as best possible. The start with the 30 boats was magnificent. It was superb, it’s a different starting from Martinique. The question of going back into the cold is still at the back of my mind but today I am pushing on.