Home at last. Day 6 approx same distance as previous but split into 2 stages 
with a hearty lunch and longish rest between. Calheta to Ribeira Brava 
straightforward 12k - warm, calm, small seas mostly side-on, sometimes 
tricky but occasional forward surge materializing. Couldn't do any better 
than previously and came in 12th. Second stage (18k) similar for first half 
but chop slopping off cliffs and walls making quite tricky later esp. last 
1k along endless harbour wall at Funchal - great relief to turn round the 
end into the finish. Then pack up boat for shipment and off to the final feast.

Overall I came second to last in the senior classification - packing on 
Friday afternoon completely spoilt my record.

Lessons learned: Boat stability trumps speed - the overall winner was 
paddling a fairly stable ski (similar to a V10 sport) and he beat several 
"faster" skis. I set out in a brand new and unfamiliar boat of a type I had 
tried only briefly from Branksome beach and which turned out to be beyond me 
- personally, even in a much more stable boat being able to recover quickly 
in difficult conditions (remount a ski or roll a kayak) would be a must. 
There is little on the English South coast that prepare you well for the 
conditions in the race - racing beside some Dorset cliffs after a good few 
hours of SW force 6 might get close - the combination of steep sea cliffs 
and deep ocean around Madeira seems to make for very confused seas in many 
places which make paddling highly unpredicatable and unsettling even when 
quite small - wherever the waves are more regular in their direction it gets 
far easier to cope with even if they are very large.

The race organization was superb, logistics, safety cover, first aid and 
marshalling seemed faultless and it is amazing value - as well as six days 
racing, your entry fee gets you basic accommodation (on floors of schools) 
for up to 10 days, all meals for race days and boat transport from the 
Portuguese mainland.

Philip Nye