Sailing: The dream turns into a nightmare and then simply the best race of my life

Volvo Ocean Race

Five seconds before the start in La Rochelle I was just delighted how we had lined up Assa Abloy – full speed, clean air, the right end of the line, impeccable timing – any racing sailor's dream.

Two seconds after the gun, total disaster. The speed of the boat plummeted and very quickly I realized that the start marker buoy was going along with us – we had hooked it around the keel. Now what? The rest of the fleet were speeding off and we were anchored to the bottom. We were within one foot of the perfect start – and now this. Some fast work from the lads got us out of it – two guys over the side and five or six minutes later we were free. We still had a penalty turn to do for hitting the mark but we were under way in the eighth leg of this round the world race.

Not a nice feeling – 1,100 miles to go and already the rest of the fleet were what seemed like an impossible distance ahead. All credit to the crew, it only fired them on more for what was always going to be a tough leg but one which turned out to be the best race of my life.

We sailed hard and smart and one day later in the English Channel we had battled to the front. Hard sailing, great boat speed and excellent positioning got us back into the race.

As expected it was a leg of many parts and once over our bad start we had almost a dream run. The racing was close – for the most part the top six boats were within three miles of each other. Tense but incredible.

Our goal had been to win the leg and also to hope that illbruck fell back so we could take some points off them. Most would have said it was an impossible dream. But strange things happen at sea. Win we did, and as luck would have it illbruck got their knickers in a twist and managed only fourth.

Arriving in Gothenburg was just a great feeling – not only was it the closest finish I have ever heard of in offshore racing (five boats finishing within six minutes and 50 seconds) but there we were ahead of the pack. And what a reception – three to four hundred boats came out in the middle of the night to greet us – fireworks, water cannons, it was all there. Seemingly hundreds of people wearing Assa Abloy blue and white colours waving and screaming – just incredible. Two of our crew were arriving to their own country and the team were returning to where the campaign began. It was about as good as it gets.

I've never been so proud as when we crossed that line. I was also totally exhausted. We had had all the possible combinations of weather and navigational obstacles we had expected, and more. What a race.

What's more we have closed down illbruck's lead in the overall standings. They have 54 points and we have 49 – another good leg for us, and an average one for them and the overall trophy is still within our grasp. The odds are still heavily against us but we are going to go out fighting. Even more pleasing the finishing order has meant that we have already secured second place so we have it all to go for!

One amusing affect our winning this leg has had is the bet we had over a team meal in France. Magnus came up with a bet that if we did not win coming in here then the sailing team would shave off all their hair. If we did, though, the shore crew would shave off theirs. So, true to their word we now have a total bald shore crew – even the shore manager and project director are bald as coots.

Volvo Ocean Race: Leg 8 (La Rochelle to Gothenburg): 1 Assa Abloy 4d 7hr 6min, 2 Tyco 4:07.08, 3 Newscorp 4:07.10, 4 illbruck 4:07.11, 5 Amer Sports One 4:07.13; 6 SEB 4:07.57; 7 djuice 4:10.19, 8 Amer Sports Too 4:18.13.

Overall standings: 1 illbruck 54pts, 2 Assa Abloy 49, 3 Amer Sports One 40, 4 Newscorp 40, 5 Tyco 40, 6 SEB 29, 7 djuice 25, 8 Amer Sports Too 11

Leg 9: 6 June: Gothenburg to Kiel (250 nautical miles).