After months of organising, boat building, hair pulling and nail biting, the "National Investment Institute" and its crew got down to what it was all about, leaving on the first leg of their Round the World adventure on 4th November from Port Arthur.

Just to show that this wasn't going to be all fun, nature served up 2 days of bad weather. After that, thing became a little more civilised with the rest of the trip serving up a good mix with nice fast sailing plus even the odd day of being becalmed!

In the true tradition of a "shakedown" leg, the voyage was not without its little problems. Firstly, one of the crew decided at one stage to take a bit of a dive across the cabin, destroying the microphone on the HF radio. Then the starter motor on the auxiliary failed, leaving them on sail only. Lastly, the inverter to power the computer for Inmarsat communication gave up the ghost. Not good for communication! Luckily, the guys still were able to maintain communications using the Iridium satellite phone.

In the end, the yacht sailed into Wellington harbour on the 14th November. It proved to be a good shakedown trip, the crew are very happy with the boat. It is proving very fast and exceeding expectations. The crew are working well together and are are good mix, which provides some lively conversation during those night watches!

Everyone at the moment is enjoying Wellington. The crew is starting to feel both apprehension and anticipation about the next leg..the Southern Ocean. One thing is for sure, everyone on board is about to realise some very exciting ambitions...