Knowledge is a wonderful thing and the people who do this trip regularly must learn something new eachtime.  Is it for everyone? I very much doubt it and I don't think certain boats could do it with the stress and strains.  At some points of the trip I was wondering whether we would manage it but remember, boats can take far more than we can.
Probably the most important thing on a trip like this is the people you're with and I think I had the perfect crew even though one of my closest friends decided not to make the trip, thatvwas probably for the best. I think we take the mental side of a trip like this a little too lightly when it's probably the most important part of it all. There's no escape, no avoiding the conflict and no avoiding the very small space.  It all sounds great but there was a lot of mental stress for me to make it work for all on board, as this was my trip and I wanted the people on board to make my experience of crossing the Atlantic a great one, not a chore that I wouldn't want to ever do again. Now it's something I can remember with pleasure for years to come.
What would I do differently? Maybe stay closer to the African coast, where the winds were stronger and call into Cape Verde for 3or 4 days. It's a week's sail and you could refresh everything and then have a two and a half week sail across the pond.
We had some power issues and looking back I can put this down to exceptionally light winds and cloud so the wind turbine and solar didn't work at anywhere near capacity.
Would I carry more fuel? Maybe, maybe not if I did the Verde route. Also if you leave in January the trades are well established, not unpredictable like we had but on this note everyone I know is complaining about the weather from the Mediterranean all the way here. There has been some unusual weather here for the time of year. Also it's a shorter distance so probably no to the extra fuel. The food was great, 10 days of fresh food then it had to be made interesting for the crew from tins and jars. It worked really well.
Sleep patterns were good, 3 on 6 off, perfect for us all.
Weather forecast was fantastic from the Iridium Go, every 30 hours approximately we had a new forecast and more if we wanted. Family and friends could follow our progress, including the forecast, even though with the power issue we only had it on for an hour in the morning and a hour at night.
I was able to message Donna to let people know about the power issue so they didn't worry.
Wear and tear? I learned that all boats have weak points. We lost the spinnaker halyard and the clew ring from the genoa,  both my fault. I knew the halyard was crossing the genoa set up at the top of the mast and would cause wear and I placed the spinnaker pole upside down on the genoa clew ring to stop the tingling noise so the boys could sleep. Firstly I think this is a bad design by Westerly and the roller for the halyard should be eight inch below the genoa halyard roller not side by side,  something I must address next time the mast is down. The second, well I should have tied up the line. However, when all is said and done, Muirgen travelled from  Turkey at the end of May all the way to the Caribbean, she performed admirably and with great gusto. Well done my girl.
Would I do it again? Certainly with that crew and the changes I've mentioned. It was a fantastic experience and certainly better than an eight and a half hour flight. I'm sure the boys feel the same way. Tim and Keith had only just met and I'm sure they will have a long friendship.