PUMA EMAIL: 'Today was a great day'

Thursday 20 November 2008 22:15 GMT

PUMA - Ken Read (skipper)

Today was a great day. It is the little things in life that tip the scales from not so good through to great. it is a larger scale on some days than it is on other days. What made today so great is the fact that it has been over 24 hours since we have had out power tools grinding carbon fibre in order to laminate new carbon skins on our damaged yacht. Seriously, this is a great day.

I know that the interior of these boats and the lack of amenities have been well documented. The lack of much hygiene, the noises the boat makes and the lack of sleep are all part of the game. Mix in a nice layer of carbon fibre dust in to your clothes, foul weather gear, sleeping bag and food and you have a pretty good idea of what it was like on the fine yacht for the last few days. Sounds lovely doesn't it? It really isn't.

We do have a new lease on life in the race as well. We got the boat going again and made some gains to the north enough to feel like we are back with most of the pack. Not out of the woods yet but at least we feel like we are back racing with the main part of the fleet. Again, a huge relief. Believe me, there was a point in time where I was wondering if we could make it in to port within a few days of the fleet, never mind feel like we were racing again. A huge testament to the entire PUMA team who all took on our situation quickly and professionally.

So, I don't want to jinx ourselves because we still clearly aren't 100% and things could go pear shaped at any time but at least for now we are racing and very happy on board.

Just got a news report sent to the boat about the pirates off Somalia who snagged a oil tanker...There is some news that we just don't need to know about...

Kenny