Steve Hayles Quotations

We've got a mini race on here with the kids. They are 15 miles in front, which is a fair distance, but with 15 hours to go to the scoring gate, we're going to give it one final push. There are one or two areas where we could make gains and we will see if we can pip them at the post. We've just set a bigger spinnaker and we are off like a robber's dog at the moment.

It has been a hard race and I have given a huge amount of energy to get the boat going better, but at this stage the best thing for me is to make a change.

We have to remember that our performance in this leg is much more positive than our fifth place seems to indicate. This doesn't look good on paper, but we have never been so close to a podium position in an offshore leg since the start.

Every time you go into an area like the Doldrums, the stress levels seem to rise dramatically. The heat is very demanding.

I really wish it hadn't come to this. I feel we've let Neal down. I feel that very strongly.