Saturday's start line incident has cost Conrad about 18 hours in all, although we understand that he may be recompensed should his protest against Dfi Venden be upheld. We will see.

In the meantime, the best place to win is on the water and Conrad is very determined to overhaul the three boats in Class 3 now ahead of him.

This may seem a tall order but remember that routing tactics will play as big a part as raw speed. With over 3000 miles, 20 days and a range of weather systems ahead, anything can happen and it will be well into the race before the true pecking order becomes apparent.