Skipper update for team Washington DC Supporters 28th June 2026
Our stopover in Washington DC was a fantastic one, made even more special thanks to the support of Events DC. We enjoyed a VIP tour of the Nationals Baseball Stadium, experienced Fleet Week in full swing, and were welcomed by huge local interest throughout our stay. Between interviews, boat tours, events, and meeting supporters, it was a busy but rewarding stopover for the whole team.
As always, stopovers bring change. We said goodbye to some wonderful crew members: Ari, Will, Anna, Rich, Pete and Neil. They each made a significant contribution to our journey and will be greatly missed. At the same time, we welcomed some fantastic new crew members to the team: Chris, Dennis, Vasi, Martin, Kjersti, Robert, Roger, Lars, Sonia. We’re also incredibly grateful for the commitment of our returning crew. Michael (completed Legs 1 and 2), Marike (legs 1, 2 5 and 6) and Susie (legs 1-5). Their experience, consistency, and energy are invaluable.
For the first time since departing Cape Town, we are no longer the smallest crew on the race course; yay! We now have 18 crew onboard, six more than our usual number. As we left Washington, there was a real sense of positivity and excitement around what that could mean for us. More hands mean more power, more and quicker sail changes, and greater capacity on deck.
For the first time in a long time, being truly competitive felt like a genuine possibility rather than something we were constantly striving and stretching for against stronger teams. There was a tangible shift in belief throughout the boat. And then came a setback.
Not long after departure, we suffered a significant tear in our mainsail, almost splitting it in half. Moments like these have become familiar companions on this race. They are never welcome, but they are part of the challenge. More importantly, they are the moments that reveal who we are as a team.
While it was frustrating to lose performance, we stayed united, kept our focus on what we could control, and continued to push forward together. Challenges like these often become the stories we tell when we get home, the reminders of what we overcame and how we found reasons to laugh, learn, and appreciate the journey along the way.
After many hours of stitching, patching, and perseverance, the repair is finally complete. The sail is flying again, but like the rest of us, it’s beginning to show the miles. Our sails no longer have the crisp shape they carried when we left Portsmouth. They look more like patchwork quilts now, each repair a reminder of a storm weathered, a squall endured, or another thousand miles covered. Their folds and tucks no longer harness the wind quite as effortlessly as they once did. They, too, are approaching the end of their journey.
In many ways, they mirror us. Weathered, occasionally held together by little more than determination and careful repairs, but still moving forward. Still finding speed. Still carrying us towards the finish.
Above all, we’re grateful to be out here, living an experience that so few people ever get the opportunity to have.
And now for some more of my usual musings…
Recently, someone questioned whether my commitment to equality is reflected in the way I lead, pointing to the fact that some women on board haven’t worked on the bow. It made me reflect on an important question: how do my values actually show up in practice?
I am absolutely an advocate for equality of opportunity. But equality doesn’t mean treating every individual identically or forcing everyone through the same experience. It means meeting people where they are, understanding their confidence, skills and ambitions, and helping them grow from there.
Some crew members have sailed around the world and never been on the bow, including men. Yet the criticism was framed around the women who haven’t. That, in itself, reveals how women’s choices, experiences and participation are scrutinised differently.
My role as a skipper is not to create a tick-box exercise of who has done what. It is to create an environment where every individual, regardless of gender, feels supported to step beyond their comfort zone, develop confidence and discover they are capable of more than they thought.
Leadership is knowing the difference between stretching someone and breaking them. In a race like this, where people are cold, exhausted, sleep deprived and far from home, growth has to be built carefully. And if that means we finish further back in the fleet because we have prioritised the individual journeys of our crew, then so be it.
Because this race has never only been about a position on a leader board. It is about the transformation of every person who steps on board.
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