COVER GIRL

Immediately after we rounded the first windward mark and hoisted the spinnaker, the first big gust hit us. The windspeed indicator told us it was 32 knots and there was no doubt that the spinnaker needed to come down again as quickly as possible.

I was on board the 12-Metre on the last day of Les Régates Royales in Cannes. Marcus Kemp, captain for the past 10 years, had warned us in his pre-race briefing that the forecast was for “18 knots plus”; it was now clear that the emphasis