Heather Fell is competing in Race 14 from New York to Londonderry of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race as part of Team Jamaica Get All Right. She will be blogging from onboard and keeping us up to date with her progress over the coming weeks.

IT seems that after circumnavigating the globe, Jamaica Get All Right have perfected the race start but are yet to master the finish. After a spectacular farewell from Derry-Londonderry we were off to a flying start and led the fleet of 12 boats towards the north of Scotland, yet somehow this turned into a disappointing race for us. We came into Den Helder six days later and in tenth place. On the plus side we were still in time to watch Holland beat Costa Rica and secure their place in the World Cup football semi-final. After so many weeks at sea I have become shut off from the outside world including international sport, which may have been a godsend when it comes to British attempts at Wimbledon and the World Cup — both sound like they made for painful viewing. I am patriotic but with England out of the tournament we could not have arrived in Den Helder at a better time to support the Dutch in their bid to reach the final. What a great opportunity to pretend to be from a country which had got so far in the tournament although it also meant I had to endure their frustration as they exited in the semi- finals. As Holland were still in mourning after their loss, we were busily preparing for the final race of this sailing adventure. True to form our boat was first out of the blocks and we did hold on for a little longer in this short race home, only dropping to eighth. The disappointing result soon became a distant memory though as we sailed up the River Thames to be greeted by friends and family for the Clipper Yacht Race homecoming celebrations.