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Well, this is me back home safe and sound after the Shetland Races, without even as much as a teeny weeny spew over the side. And so I don't keep you in suspenders, me and my 'boyfriend' are still together, he didn't shout at me once, and I didn't lose anything important over the side. (Well, not anything belonging to him, that is....)

In case I have lost you here, I have just returned from taking part in the Bergen - Lerwick - Bergen sailing races. I went as crew on my boyfriends boat, and I have to admit to a slight trepidation before the trip. Not about the sailing across the North Sea part, but about the potential for disaster in the relationship stakes.

You know - in a confined space and under stress; him seeing me at my worse (yes there were showers on board but its not easy washing your hair while standing on a moving floor which is at an angle of about 40 degrees); me seeing him at his worse (the sailing is only a small part of the event - there is a substantial amount of partying that goes on ashore, with sore heads aplenty the morning after!). But we got through the whole thing very well indeed, so no worries there.

ANYhooo, the whole experience was (and here I am searching for words that will do the trip justice), well, it was amazing, beautiful, educational, unforgettable, unmissable, fun, and absolutely fandabedozy.

I am a great believer in visual aids, so enuf o the writing and on to the pix.


Niki, our home for the week, in Bergen the night before the race. I arrived in Bergen with James, a friend from Orkney. As soon as we got there we changed into shorts and slapped on the factor 20.


Taking a closer look at the roller furling on the fore sail.


Just off the Norwegian coast and the wind suddenly died. The fleet sat around for about 9 hours waiting for it to blow up a bit. This is James, from Orkney.


Jan Ove, James and my bloke, playing the waiting game. I think they spotted a whale or something here.


I guess if you have to be stuck somewhere for 9 hours this was as good a place as any!


After the wind eventually turned up, we headed for the Oseberg platform which we had to go round on the way to Lerwick.


As soon as the fleet rounded Oseberg, the spinnakers were up! This was my first experience of spinnakers, and I think I need a whole lot more practice. And on this point my bloke is in complete agreement with me!

It took us somewhere around 36 hours to get to Lerwick.


Did I mention that I did not lose anything of my boyfriends overboard? Well that was true, but I did happen to drop my purse in the drink in Lerwick harbour. Oops! An extremely nice, helpful, and brave norski man from the neighbouring boat got it back for me.


The sky was a different colour altogether in Lerwick! But it stayed dry, and there was a lot going on to entertain us all.


Not my best side maybe, but I was happy!


The race home to Bergen. (This is not our favourite angle of shot. We prefer to be looking at the bows of the boats behind us.)


Handling spinnakers is a tricky business!


I had to include this shot for my mum. I'm sure she thinks we were drinking beer and rum the whole way over.


Two yachts battling it out near the finish line. That's Norway in the background.


The finish line. It took us about 25 and a half hours to get to Norway.


Derek, who swapped places with James for the return journey, relaxing in Bergen after the race.

Well, to sum it all up, I loved every minute. But if you want to know how we did in the actual race, I would say, in the words of my skipper, "We prefer not to discuss that!" Better luck next year!