by Alice Burrell · 13 Sept 2026
The lights of Cherbourg beckon
An anonymous Friday afternoon and we’re about to do our first ever double handed yacht race. Destination: Cherbourg. On the way down Southampton Water, Alice tries the autopilot. It holds course for about 30 seconds before swinging off wildly. Looks like we’ll be hand steering the whole way across the Channel, then. Always good to make it challenging. What followed was 70 miles of zero sleep, a total struggle with sail trim, and a rather unglamorous bout of seasickness. Yet, despite purposely slowing the boat to avoid an awkward collision based conversation with Chris, we made it to France, and some how, we weren't last.
