Reporter Ruth O'Kelly-Lynch is aboard The Spirit of Bermuda as a watch leader and will is filing regular reports as she and the other vessels in the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge sail from Tenerife to Bermuda. Here is her latest dispatch.

With a Longtail guiding her home the Spirit of Bermuda encountered a variety of conditions within a 48 hour period.

Despite some set backs the ship regained its first place position yesterday and is working hard to maintain it.

Early on Wednesday morning saw little wind and much frustration as the crew trimmed sails and concentrated on the helming in order to eek out two to four knots of speed in breezes as low as four knots. It is times like this when the coffee provided by Rock Island is invaluable, keeping the crew happy and warm when little else is happening.At 4.00 a.m. Michael Byron, who just turned 16 last week, came up for dawn watch. He was promptly sent to the fore deck and told to scratch the foremast, superstition has it that if the youngest crew member scratches the mast the wind will come.And come it did, within 12 hours the winds were averaging 25 knots and the ship was hurtling along at 10 knots. This meant a day of activity for the crew as they reefed and unreefed several sails to ensure maximum speed and safety. Reefing a sail involves rolling up the bottom of it to reduce sail span. Much of the crew seemed to spend the day on deck. But due to our lack of wind the previous day the ship had slipped to second position overall. More bad news came when the foresail ripped nine feet from the foot to above the first reef line, causing an emergency drop and quick double-reef before setting her again, much reduced. Repairs have gone on throughout yesterday.But the hard work paid off as the crew woke up yesterday morning to a pod of dolphins playing in her wake, a longtail off her bow and in late afternoon they heard they had regained first place in fleet as well as first place on corrected time.Captain Simon Colley said: "The fore is our most important sail and this tear has seriously compromised our competitive ability. But there is a buzz throughout the ship as morale continues to soar and we're not going down without a fight."If Spirit is to win on corrected time she will need to arrive in Bermuda days, not hours, ahead of her competitors.As of 2 p.m. yesterday the Spirit had already covered 580 nautical miles, with approximately 1,945 nautical miles until she sets eyes on St. David's lighthouse.Spirit's position at 1400UTC: Thursday May 21.28º53''N x 27º00''WCOG 250ºTSOG 7.5 knotsForce 3-4 NNW'lyReefed Mizzen, Single reefed Main, double reefed Fore, Inner and Outer Jibs, close reach.Daily run since 1400 yesterday 164NM rhumb line.580NM from Santa Cruz de Tenerife1945NM from St. David's Light, Bermuda