The day unfolded much like the one before—CTRL-C/CTRL-P straight from Day 6. Another glorious stretch under the spinnaker, a touch of cloud drifting by, and the trade winds slowly gathering strength.

But as we closed in on the first finish line, excitement mixed with impatience. Yesterday I joked that we might as well sail straight on to Grenada; today I kept catching myself thinking, Are we there yet?

After sunset we dropped the spinnaker and set up the scaffolding to pole out the Code Zero and the genoa. The night brought some lively downwind action for Neli, occasionally pushing us up to 11 knots. And as I write this, I can just make out the first lights of the Cape Verdes, where we should cross the finish line at around 06:00.

After that, we’ll refuel—Akuna and ourselves. The boys can’t wait to unleash their inner monkeys on the nearest beach!