It feels like déjà vue. Planned to set off for Alderney on the Friday night but weather too bad to leave. Left on Saturday morning at 8am. We wanted to give the round the island race competitors a chance to get clear. The wind was gusty force 6 and we had to tack all the way to the needles. The strong winds were causing carnage to the racers and we have great admiration for the coastguard who were continuously dealing with maydays. We passed some stragglers in the field who had left 1.5 hours before us. Mostly we saw boats coming back with ripped sails, de masted and an upturned catamaran. We also saw every type of life boat and heard at least a dozen mayday calls with people in the water, helicopter evacuations and general carnage.
Having got clear of the Needles we realised the with the wind direction Cherbourg was the only realistic destination. We spent the next 12 hours close hauled (sailing as near to the wind as possible) with Javelin riding the bumpy sea well and heeled over. Eventually got to Cherbourg at midnight, had something to eat and crashed out.