By Anna Wardley Cascais, Portugal

Sailing rookie Anna Wardley will be sending updates from the Clipper Race as she bids to sail around the world.

With just a few miles to run to the finish line at Cascais, near Lisbon, we were in front of our seven rivals in the Clipper Race.

But only just.

After 1,000 miles at sea, the gap between the two leading boats, Hong Kong and Jersey, was down to a couple of miles.

On board Hong Kong, we were frantically changing from one sail to another due to the changing wind conditions.

we pushed on pledging to survive on long-life milk if necessary

Wardley woe: Anna took a tumble at sea

Our win felt particularly special as it was our craft's first in four Clipper campaigns.

After extended goodbyes in Liverpool, where the start was delayed due to high winds, we had our fair share of drama and exhilarating sailing.

On day three, I fell in the cockpit during a nightwatch and damaged my ankle.

Luckily nothing was broken, but I was laid up for 24 hours as my foot swelled up like a balloon.

The next day, four days from the finish, our water-maker broke.

Without it, we were left with only our emergency water supply, which gave us 12 litres a day until we got to Portugal.

But we pushed on pledging to survive on long-life milk if necessary until the finish.

Our skipper Justin Taylor decided to tack west to pick up favourable wind conditions, while most of the fleet opted to hug the coast.

Despite being temporarily pushed to the back of the pack, his gamble worked and our 36-hour celebration is still going strong.

When we reached land was a mad rush for the bar almost before our lines were secured to the pontoon.

After eight days without a shower, it felt as if an ecosystem was establishing itself in my hair.

But the shower was going to have to wait.

"The beer always tastes better when you're a winner," our skipper told us in the run up to the finish.

It tastes pretty good anyway after eight days at sea. But he was right. That night, it tasted particularly sweet.