Not all plain sailing for John

The first boats in the ARC race are expected to finish on 5 December

The BBC's John Brice, a novice sailor, has entered the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers from Gran Canaria to St Lucia.

In the second part of his sailing diary, he tells of the difficult start to his adventure.

So far it's been exciting, colourful and exhilarating but above all exhausting.

At the start we had hardly any wind and it kept changing direction so we crossed the line five minutes late.

Sadly most of our racing competitors were gone.

Then the first crisis happened.

'Chaotic conditions'

Our spinnaker - that's the big one out front that catches all the wind - ripped and we had to haul it down.

After the first night of action I was soaked to the skin and knackered John Brice

When you do that for the first time ever it's tough but in racing conditions it's chaotic.

There are 24 people on board from seven nations split into two watches.

However, the start was so busy everyone was needed to undertake the endless number of tasks.

In the first couple of hours we changed three sails and I thought the journey was going to be a nightmare if it continued along these lines.

We were ordered to haul in ropes, wind winches, pull in sails - things I had seen done many times before but never had to do myself.

My only previous experience was on a two day sail from Southampton to Aldernay which was trouble free by these standards.

I was clearly not prepared.

Night time bonus

As the first night fell we settled down to watching the stars - and what a display.

The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers takes about 12 days

Just as I was settling into a restful period, the wind changed and we had to change a sail.

This time we had the added bonus of achieving everything we did earlier - but now in the dark.

As the water lashed over the rails I realised how important it is to be tied on to the deck.

I could so easily have gone overboard.

Hoisting up a sail at night is tough.

I spent the six weeks before this race pounding the streets around my home in Gillingham, Kent, at the gym and in the local swimming pool.

It made me a lot fitter but I soon realised how unfit I really am.

After the first night of action I was soaked to the skin and knackered.

It took me a full half an hour to get undressed only because I was exhausted.

Is there better to come?

The ARC race began on 23 November with the first boats expected to finish around 5 December.