OCEAN RACE DIARY- Week 16, Leg 4( Singapore to Qingdao): WE'RE CAUTIOUSLY continuing on our way to China on a wounded Green Dragon, trying to get the balance right between preserving the boat and getting there as fast as we can before another ferocious storm comes in.

The bow of the boat has broken for the second time and we have no more repair materials on board. We cannot risk it breaking again, but we’re still in more than 30 knots of wind so it’s difficult to take it easy and we still have just under 1,000 miles to go.

We suffered the second blow just a few hours after we had resumed sailing on Sunday, after having to seek shelter off the Philippines to repair the earlier damage.

The conditions have been horrendous as the much-anticipated storm swept over the Luzon Strait, although it was far worse than anyone expected.

As the headwinds increased to 30 knots, it became impossible to sleep as the guys were just bouncing between the deckhead [ceiling] and their bunks.

We were maintaining good pace with Ericsson 3 in our sights as we tacked up the shoreline of the Philippines and eventually made a tactical decision to head across the Strait towards Taiwan. Here, the seas became more aggressive and we found ourselves battling against more than 45 knots of wind (50 knots at times) and waves 10 metres high.

Having not slept for over 30 hours or so, it was set to become a very tough day at the office.

Nonetheless, we were comfortable with how we were sailing and in full control. Then the Dragon came crashing off a wave with that gut-wrenching noise of carbon fibre cracking. Part of the internal bow structure had broken. What a disaster.

There was no way we could repair the boat in this sea state, so we were forced to turn around and take cover, so we sailed back to Salomaque Bay, where we dropped anchor. We were alongside Delta Lloyd who were also sheltering after sustaining damage and about 10 miles south of Puma and were in a similar situation.

We then heard the surreal news that the whole fleet was either anchored, trying to effect repairs, or sheltered, waiting for the winds to abate.

The bow ring had disintegrated in three places and come away from the hull. It’s an internal ring, which acts as a structural support at the front of the yacht and sits inside the forward section of the bow, between the waterproof bulkheads.

We’d also ripped quite a few sails, so there was lots of work to be done before we could get out racing again. Each of us took on a role so we could work as efficiently and quickly as possible.

Led by our boat builder Tom Braidwood, Neal McDonald and I worked through the night to repair the bow – attaching and bonding reinforced plates and laminating the broken ring frame.

Meanwhile the other guys stayed on their four hours on, four hours off, watch systems, helping us throughout the night.

Then we spent the following day repairing the damaged sails and waiting for the resins in the bow repair to set. For me, it was 24 hours without sleep.

We set sail on Sunday evening, fully backed off from a racing point of view to protect the Dragon – just sailing to get to China rather than racing.

Not long after we ventured out again, our skipper, Ian Walker, and Neal, heard two loud cracks and feared the worst. The bow ring was okay, but the bulkhead had cracked internally either side of it. Frustrated as we were, we suspected this might happen.

We now faced a dilemma – should we continue to China or should we retire from the leg like Telefonica Black who we believe have cracked their hull? After accessing the situation, we decided it was safe to press on. It’s the internal backbone structure of the yacht which is damaged, so we are not taking on water or anything like that.

If we can just get through the next 12 hours or so then the weather is set to ease, but more big storms are forecast for the end of the week, so we have a very tight window to get to Qingdao.

We were already hampered by a broken forestay which happened inexplicably on Thursday. The forestay keeps the mast upright, so we were very lucky not to lose the whole rig. That would have been extremely dangerous. We have no idea why it broke.

The forestay hanger which attaches the stay to the rig failed and that just shouldn’t happen. Typically this would be the part of the rig with the most safety factor.

The forestay is also used to set sails, but we managed to continue by hoisting our J4 sail, which has its own stay. It means we’re sailing at about 90 per cent capacity.

Ironically, with this sail set-up, we can sail better in the big winds than we can the lighter airs.

We put makeshift safety stays in place, but we have to be very careful how we load the rig. It’s still vulnerable and to drop it would be disastrous. We’re doing all we can to get to Qingdao safely and in one piece.