We all know that yacht racing can at times be an endurance event, but who would have guessed that filling out customs forms along with race compliance would be the first endurance event? We think we have ticked all the boxes, got all the qualifications, completed all the forms in duplicate, scanned and sent and resent every document, and we are now ready to get down to the on-the-water business.

On Saturday Vesna completed the Offshore Medic day class with Dr Dave Austin (ICU director and sailor) and is ready to inject and stitch anything and everyone, although she advises that it is best to avoid the staple gun. She was delighted to catch an earlier flight back to Wellington and be at the RPNYC prize giving, where we were all delighted that the Club, through Commodore Mark Gordon, has recognised our enthusiasm with the presentation of the Burgee. We will fly it proudly.

The crew is now gathering in Auckland a few days before the start-on Saturday to complete an ever increasing list of small jobs. Excitement is building. We are keeping a close eye on the weather and the forecast is looking like a blinder – Saturday shows several different route options based on varying wind strengths.

Once we clear of Auckland, the forecasts show some fast reaching for 72 hours. This is what Blink is particularly good at, and if the forecast holds true we expect some big 24-hour runs. Blinking awesome!

^The ANZ Sail Fiji website has a bio of all of the competing boats. ANZ sail Fiji also has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/sailfiji

You can follow our progress from Saturday 4th on the ANZ Sail Fiji website http://sailfiji.co.nz/tracker/