High speeds herald the finish of the Challenge Transat 2006

Spencer Dock wins Leg 2 of the Challenge Transat 2006 with a lead of 1 hour and 52 minutes over rival Pindar. After the trials of hurricane Helene, the yachts raced to the finish up the English Channel and the Solent in the teeth of a gale as they hurtled through the last few days of the race at breakneck speeds.

This leg has been characterised by lots of winds and fast sailing speeds, and was led for most of the way by Jim Allen and his team onboard Pindar. However, their opponents overhauled them in the last 3 days of this 14-day race across the North Atlantic, led by skipper Stewart Richardson.

The yachts themselves have plenty of experience of rough weather having twice circumnavigated the world in the Global Challenge, including the rigours of the Southern Ocean. These renowned yachts are 72ft long and are identical one-design sailing yachts. The crews however are a different matter - some had never sailed yachts before undertaking the training to prepare them for this race.

On board, the crew was drawn from diverse nationalities including Belgium, Canada, France, South Africa, the USA, Ireland, Australia and Great Britain, all working as a team in a harmonious whole. They had taken a break from their normal lives as insurance brokers, finance managers, caterers, computer analysts and doctors to take three weeks to sail their elite yacht across the notorious North Atlantic Ocean. A professional skipper and two mates accompanied each team of fourteen, making a crew of seventeen.

Each team is chosen to be as equally matched as possible, and each yacht is identical, therefore only the teamwork and dedication of the race crew makes the difference as to which wins the race - and in this case they are very closely matched!

It was an emotional scene onboard Spencer Dock, as they tied up alongside in the darkness. After tying up the crew gave each other hugs as they all congratulated each other on their achievement. Spencer Dock's skipper Stewart Richardson, sporting a seadog-like growth of beard says: "The best part of the race for us was just after passing through Helene. We went deliberately slowly for a day to rest a bit, but then the wind flicked round behind us. It went up to thirty knots - we poled out the no.2 and the sailing was fantastic. It's what a transat is all about - it was even a sunny day, just glorious wind and off we went!"

So what was the worst part of the race? "Helene wasn't that much of a problem. The worst bit was the illegal kite hoist. It was put up in a panic as we were leading at the time and didn't want to lose time, then we had a horrible realisation. We had broken the rule and put ourselves into a very awkward position, and it has tarnished what has otherwise been a great event. We have to assume that Pindar will protest, we just need to wait and see."

Pindar gave their notice of intention to protest back on Day 2 of the race, when they observed Spencer Dock change kites to one that they had not declared that they would be using this leg. As at the time of writing the 2 hour time limit for any protests has expired and no official notice has been received. The traditional spray of champagne, cold beer and hot pizza greeted Spencer Dock. Onboard, crewmember Lesley Witard celebrated 50,000 miles sailing onboard the Challenge Yachts during this race. We caught up with her as she was drinking some champagne to congratulate her.

"It's been brilliant, a good race" she said jubilantly. "Do you know I started sailing on the Scilly Isles, and I celebrated by 50,000nm on Challenge yachts when we were 100 miles from the Scillies!"

"I have enjoyed it very much, such a good crew. This is the first time I've raced with different crews, where almost everyone changed over between legs. The first leg crew were a good laugh, and then we had to start again with a new batch! But they are a good bunch too!"

"We have experienced all sorts of weather on this leg. It opened a few people's eyes - they really learned what offshore sailing is about, although sometimes it was more like a submarine!"

Pindar followed them into the marina some two hours later, and was greeted with cheers and wolf whistles. The crews gave each other three cheers as the confetti cannons fired and champagne sprayed in the air.

We caught up with one of Pindar's novice crewmembers, 26 year old project worker Emma White, who won her place in a competition run by Southampton City Council. We asked her if she enjoyed the race "Enjoy is not really the word! It’s more like a test of endurance. Everything is, from being in a confined space with so many people to the conditions that we experienced. We had our sails in the water twice, and weather including hurricanes to deal with"

What was the worst part "Well, it should have been the hurricane, but the conditions of the last few days in some ways were worse, so I suppose as much as anything it's fear of the unknown - not having done it before. It's amazing, some days went really quickly and some days dragged and I was thinking 'I want to go home'. It's been really hard work, especially the last few days".

Matthew Ratsey, Challenge Business Technical Director said "Once again we have an extraordinarily close race, as quick a crossing of the Atlantic as we have ever had, with an average speed of over 8.7 knots. Also, once more we have a very close finish after 3000 miles of racing."

"In addition, although the yachts show some signs of the weather they have been through, it demonstrates yet again that these yachts have proved themselves in the tough conditions they experienced."

The yachts are berthed in Ocean Village, Southampton, the hometown of Challenge Business, the company formed by Sir Chay Blyth to enable people to learn to sail. The protest hearing is scheduled for Thursday and the prizegiving the following evening, Friday. This will be attended by all of the crews, their friends and families and honoured guests from the race supporters including the Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead and Southampton City Council.