British skipper, Conrad Humphreys, is set to compete in the Route du Rhum in an Open 40 - a smaller version of the Open 60 used for the Vende Globe.

But this is not just any Open 40. The yacht, named SYLLOGIC, was sailed by its amateur owner into fourth place overall in the 2002 two-handed, Round Britain & Ireland race, easily winning its class and coming ahead of most of its larger and more fancied rivals. It is a superb racing machine, incorporating much of the very latest in design thinking and technical innovation.

Conrad's company, O6T, has chartered the boat through to January 2003.

Conrad's goal for the Route du Rhum is ambitious - to win his class (Class 3) and get in amongst the larger yachts taking part. At this stage of the campaign however, a good result is all that is needed to both establish credibility and provide the best possible lead into the remainder of O6T's programme leading up to the Vende Globe 2004-2005. Conrad has now set off from Plymouth to St Malo to prepare for the start and he e-mailed a few words over prior to departure:

My band of volunteer shore crew, sponsors and supporters have been working flat out to get our boat ready and off to France, ready to do battle against one of the strongest fleets ever to assemble for the Route du Rhum.

"We have optimised and tweaked Syllogic for over six weeks since completing my qualifier back in early September, leaving nothing to chance and no stone unturned in pursuit of speed and reliability. The improvements are noticeable.

Our new upwind sails from Hyde Sails are fast and with a new Code 5 and Gennaker from Norths France we have filled some gaps in our downwind inventory.

"Having spoken to many of my competitors over the last few days, it looks like we are in for a tough fight in Class 3. Alan Grinda, sailing the Open 40 Fantasy Forest and Regis Guillemot in the larger Open 45 are both well prepared and experienced solo-ists. With just eight days of single-handed sailing behind me, I have a pretty steep learning curve to climb, however I feel ready for this race and hungry to do well."

You can follow Conrad Humphreys first venture into single-handed sailing via two websites: www.conradhumphreys.com and the official race site www.routedurhum.org