There was one notable absentee on the dock where the Vendée Globe fleet has gathered in Les Sables d’Olonne: Steve White’s Corinthian entry Toe in the Water. A couple of days ago, the news was all good but seeing is believing and he wasn’t there.

It was a great relief then to see his reliveried steed Toe in the Water in its rightful place this morning. Steve himself was dashing off to pay some bills, now that he has the money to pay them, but we hope to catch up with him later and find out something about the peaks and troughs of the emotional swell he’s been labouring through in the last few days.

It will be the realisation of a 10 year dream for Steve when he sets off but if he hasn’t been around before, the boat certainly has. In the 2000-01 edition of the Vendée Globe, when Ellen was winning hearts and breaking records, Josh Hall brought Gartmore back in 111 days, securing ninth place.

Older she may be, but with a range of state-of-the-art kit onboard, Steve stands every chance of breaking the boat’s record.