Bouwe Bekking: Feeling the love

Bouwe Bekking, skipper of Team Brunel in the Volvo Ocean Race, reflects on the fan experience and how thankful he is for their support…

We are not the only ones looking out for the position reports. We know that the home front is eyeballing every one of our moves. Our wives, children, girlfriends, friends and supporters live this race as extreme.

I know even at night time that some of them are waking up to check the latest. And they’re probably happier than us with a good report, or way more frustrated when we lose a couple of miles.

The home front is turning into tactical masterminds themselves and I know we’ll all have to do a lot of explaining again once we arrive in Abu Dhabi.

This can be frustrating at times as some of our loved ones have become true analysts and can pinpoint exactly where we gain or lose.

And which yachtie wants to get told by his wife how to sail our boat? I sometimes get a bit cranky when my wife tells me during a conversation the truth, but smile at the intensity in her eyes. Without her support I couldn’t do this race.

Moments like right now typing this message, make you feel warm inside to think about your loved ones. How lucky I am, how lucky we all are onboard, as our loved ones do understand why we are out here and knowing that we have their full support.