ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) has only 473 nautical miles to the second scoring gate at the Eclipse Island this morning, but in the last six hours the yacht has slowed to below ten knots, with wind speeds of around five knots from the north. Meanwhile the chasing pack still has 15 to 20 knots helping them to compress the distance between them and the leader.

Paul Cayard (Pirates of the Caribbean) reported over night how he and his crew are feeling more comfortable with the pirate ship and are up to 90% of full speed.

They are looking forward to getting a chance to gain on the three yachts in front of them but for the moment Paul told us about the more jovial side of life onboard, “It is starting to smell like a kennel onboard. There is no time when you can go on deck and not get wet pretty much to the skin so there are a lot of wet clothes and socks laying around that are starting to smell pretty bad.

“Our Real Expedition freeze dried food is still pleasing everyone so that is a good sign. Usually everyone gets pretty fed up with the food whatever it is after two weeks. We are losing weight through, at least I am. All those rolls that I had justified as necessary stores for three weeks at sea are finally shedding themselves.“

The ever happy guys on ING Real Estate Brunel (Grant Wharington) are obviously having a good if not sarcastic day as Grant Wharington explained, “We have had beautiful sailing conditions for the last 48 hours and have been making good progress considering the fact that we have been sailing in average 8 knots less wind speed than the opposition for the last week.

“The Caravan is in good shape generally; the carpets and beds are dry, the aerial well tuned and the generator keeping the appliances well charged but the kitchen I must say is looking a bit shabby! You know the hygiene is a little lacking when towards the end of your coffee it starts to taste like 2 minute noodles or even Morning Fresh not properly rinsed out of the mug. Still a few small leaks through the skylights but the tyres are holding pressure well.”

As decision time for the skippers and navigators looms Bouwe Bekking (movistar) told us exactly why the decisions are so hard to make, “Capey (Andrew Cape), our navigator spends hours here in the nav station, looking into all the options. A crucial decision will have to be made soon, and that is when to start heading north towards Australia. We have to watch out that we don’t stick for too long down south, as then your wind angle coming into Aus will get worse, and therefore we will be at a slower boat speed. But computers are a great help for making these decisions.”

Finally the boys on Brasil 1(Torben Grael) have carried on gaining miles on the fleet and are currently speeding along at 22 knots, the fastest of all the yachts. Australian bowman Andy Meiklejohn revealed how the crew are handling the cold, ”Back to today, while not breaking south like in previous years, the temperature has still been cold for the Brazilian guys used to the Rio summer and 40 degrees. Boshesha (Andre Fonseca) (usually found sleeping on the generator box during and after charging) dons fleece lined wetsuit gloves, two balaclava’s and full mid layer, while Knut Frostad (a close neighbour of Santa Clause) is often heard saying “it’s quite warm today.” We have been reaching along in 20 to 30 knot N to NNEasterlies with little sign of that changing, picking off 30 to 40 miles a sked on Grant (Wharington) and co. (ING Real Estate Brunel). I must sign off there, the generator box has just been vacated, isn’t this fun!!!”

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