Yacht of the year 2009

Sometimes something happens in life where you know a bit of the history - the hard work,the ups and the downs and the heartache mixed with the triumphs. So I knew what it meant to Philippe Falle today when the Royal Ocean Racing Club named Puma Logic as its yacht of the year.

"It's the happiest day of my life," he declared on his Facebook page. I have known Philippe for many years since we sailed together on 3Com in the 1996/97 BT Global Challenge race. I last sailed with him on Puma Logic in the Round Britain and Island Race in 2006. What a ball-breaker that was.

He's a top class sailor and really should be helming or skippering at a much higher level. But he ploughs his own furrow and for the last few years he has concentrated on a sail training business, Sailing Logic, based in Southampton, taking novice sailors and building them in to winning crews. This year Puma Logic came second in IRC overall in the RORC championship.

Recognition means everything in sailing so it's great that RORC has given the boat this thoroughly deserved accolade. I hope it's a sign of bigger things to come.

Cowes to Madeira

Cowes week came and went. I always think Cowes town gets too rowdy during the annual regatta while out on the water it's chaotic.

I buried my prejudices and sailed in one of the Sunsail races. It wasn't a bad race. Unfortunately we were saddled with a particularly poorly prepared boat (what preparation?) that had a ripped sail with a baton missing. Our helm deserved a medal.

I can see the attraction for corporate teams who can come down from the city, have a fun day's racing, then clear off with a one-off rental payment - no mooring and upkeep fees for a company boat.

The day after the Artemis Challenge, a round-the-Isle of Wight race contested by Open 60s,I had the opportunity to go out on the winning boat, Pindar. With a righting moment of 48 tons compared with about 38 tons on Artemis, it has a big power advantage. It's a beast of a boat, but an amazingly well-balanced beast from the helm. I'm preparing an FT feature on Brian Thompson who I believe has an excellent chance of winning the Vendee Globe in what promises to be the most competitive Vendee yet with some exceptionally strong French and British entrants.

Just now, however, my thoughts are with Puma Logic, the boat I helped crew in the 2006 Round Britain and Ireland race. It looks like they had some fierce weather in the early part of the race from Cowes to Madeira.

If you want to get a taste of what ocean racing is really like in a big sea on a comparatively small boat, read the Puma Logic blog. Good luck to all of them.