With 2,500nm to go until they reach Cape Town, Pete Goss and his family crew on boardSpirit of Mysterymay have seen their first Open 60, as the 26-strong Vendée Globe fleet races past.

In his blog, Pete writes: “Last night had an odd boat pass us by about a mile away in that it had a strobe light high up and we were wondering if it might be a Vendee Boat. Perhaps someone could compare web sites and let us know.”

They are following in the wake of seven cornishmen who sailed their Mounts Bay Lugger,Mystery, 12,000 miles in 1854, to take part in the Gold Rush in Australia.

Back in 2008, Pete Goss’ crew have had an eventful day after they encountered their first major gear failure. Pete picks up the story…

“The Halyard hoop on the mainmast broke a weld. We all put our thinking hats on and eventually came up with a solution using a bit of old spectra that I had thankfully forgotten to take off the boat. It was originally used to drag logs up out of the valley when we were building Spirit of Mystery. Five hours of stitching and we were ready to drop the big lug and try it out for size.

Typically a squall came through just as we clambered on deck so it was a very wet half hour of fiddling about before we had in fitted. By this time the wind had really picked up so we put the second reef in and the result looks great. It needs to be, for we still have 2500NM to go before we pick up a replacement!”

Keep up with Spirit of Mystery’s progress