CONNECT WITH BEN:
Having had one hell of a day on Saturday in wild conditions and not enough sunshine to recharge the batteries through the solar panels alone, and no generator to do the job - Ben was forced to hand steer in severe conditions non-stop day and night with only brief breaks when hove the boat to snatch an hour's fitful sleep.
Despite there being no let up in the strong North Westerly winds as they chased him down his track on Saturday and through Sunday, there was some good news yesterday.
After extensive research a possible solution for starting the generator was identified. An outside chance and not guaranteed to work, but worth a try.
A bucking small boat is not the ideal place for this type of job but after several attempts Ben managed to get the now partially dismantled generator started, and by now dead batteries started to hungrily suck in charge. So after several hours Ben was set up again with instruments working and the Autohelm helping out again, allowing Ben time to attend to small matters like eating and navigating, and even taking a break.
Monday has seen very strong winds continue to blow out of the South West making the going very hard, with Ben changing down to the Storm Trysail and Storm Jib just to keep the boat together.
A slight respite is in sight later tonight as Ben nears the North West coast of Ireland and the winds ease and swing to the South, then go behind him in the East tomorrow as he tacks out into the Atlantic ready for the next onslaught, as yet another low pressure system quickly tracks up the Irish Coast to greet him - so much for an Irish welcome!
The aim in the next 36 hours is to get out into the Atlantic and onto the other side of the low pressure system and get a free ride home.
If Ben can get through this last tough test and all goes according to plan we would hope to see him cross the Finishing Line off Start Point some time on Friday and be back in Cowes at the weekend.