Baby Gap

Apologies for being offline a few days, but I've been home to the UK to witness my wife giving birth to our new son. You think it's painful waiting for the racing to start in the Louis Vuitton Cup, but believe me, it's got nothing on natural childbirth, and that's just watching it - let alone doing it!

Thanks for the congratulations received so far. It seems James Boyd has been filling in the spare moments between races (ho ho) on his America's Cup blog on TheDailySail.com with mention of the new arrival, so news has been spreading fast.

Thanks also for the name suggestions. Top of the list at the moment is Darbar, named after the curry house just an onion bhaji's throw from Port America's Cup, and where Yachting World hack Matt Sheahan does most of his best work. Indeed, so crucial is Matt's digestive system to the local economy that they've even named one of the Darbar's dishes in his honour. I kid you not.

Another suggestion has been to name the newborn after the winning skipper of the Louis Vuitton Cup. That would give us options like: Dean, Chris (or Dicko), Francesco, Karol, Vasco, Magnus, Mark, Iain (or Percy), Sebastien, Jesper or Pierre. However, we only have six weeks in which to register the birth, so this idea doesn't really work either.

The baby was born on Friday the 13th, so names like Freddie or Damian spring to mind. Our four-year-old is called Gabriel, so maybe Lucifer? The wife doesn't agree, and so the argument continues. Suggestions on a postcard please...