Preparations are heating up at the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club. The Falmouth venue is hosting the start of the 2011 Azores and Back Yacht Race (AZAB) on Saturday 4 June, and interested spectators can watch the fleet set sail from Pendennis Point.

This tenth running of Britains’ biggest ocean race will see the majority of the 70-plus entrants complete the outward leg, to Clube Naval in Ponta Delgada, in 7-10 days. A week’s turnaround then sees them start back for home.

In celebration of this summer’s 40-year anniversary of the Contessa 32, three of these classic cruisers are competing in the AZAB – one of which, Carolina (skippered by Richard Clark), was originally owned by Winston Churchill.

The race can be followed on www.azab2011.co.uk/tracking