After having pushed through wind of 30 to 44 knots, the fleet has been twiddling its thumbs in light air (15 knots) on board Virbac-Paprec since this morning. Jean-Pierre and his Figaro sailors have their spinnaker up. The sun has got its hat on, but is not sure if he is coming out to play or not. We’re not in the Southern Ocean here. This is the North Sea and it’s cold. JP : “You’d think we were in a fridge. It’s very chilly !” Now Virbac-Paprec is on the home straight. “We reckon we should make it to Calais Sunday night/Monday morning.”

“After some heavy weather sailing yesterday, we are in light air now. We are really sorry for Bonduelle. It’s true that conditions were really hard-going. We took a couple of reefs in the main to get a better control of the boat. We’re in a NW flow, but the wind should be veering SE in the afternoon. We’re trying to get into a better position for the wind shift so that we can gybe at he right moment. During the race, the Figarists who are familiar with smaller boats have taught me a lot about analysing the course They’ve got a much more down to earth approach when it comes to the tactic to adopt. Talking to them is very interesting indeed. I’m thoroughly enjoying sailing crewed. It’s nice to have a bit of company. Except when the guys dump their soaking wet oilskins on your bunk ! Looks like we’re in for a close finish, unless we manage to give the other gays a real thrashing ! We’ll probably make it to Calais by Sunday night/Monday morning… At least I hope so “

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