So it is the continued, droning monotony of motorway driving, one route south with the foot to the floor. There is scope to change lanes as the breeze backs, gaining a little to the east, or easing the sails and staying west and gaining a couple of knots of speed, but everyone knows there is a roadblock up ahead.
But while the boats are driven by autopilot hour after hour, day after day on this long port tack, it is vital the skipper does not fall into autopilot mode.
A small change in sail trim can mean a commensurate gain, but it is inattention or leaving things as they are when there is a change of strength or direction that amount to a few miles over the day.
The sailors are having to deal with a wind that although stable in mean direction is variable in strength, seas that are making the mast vibrate, reminding them of the damage Jérémie Beyou suffered.
How significant are these small losses and gains? Not much really when you look four or five days down the track and see what the St Helena high priestess may yet deal out. The leaders are still not sure, but the consensus is that there may be gains for those chasing a day or two behind.
The St Helena high, which is refusing to go back to its usual position. Meanwhile the fellow competitors are not yielding an inch and sometimes nibbling away a few miles from each other. This means they need to be out on deck or in the cockpit to adapt to the calms and squalls, and to trim the sails when the wind shifts by up to 20°. And then the rig needs checking just to be sure... But there is work inside too with all the weather info to collect, the gear to stack on the windward side, the ballast to shift to modify the trim. Getting a good rest is important also, so they can enter the Roaring Forties in the best of shape, although they are still 1500 miles ahead, but if they sleep too long, they risk losing ground…
The only notable change this evening is a small re-shuffle of the top five, as Vincent Riou conceded fourth to his long time rival Armel Le Cléach. Riou, as we said earlier today, chose to take speed over height and conceded a little bit of easting to Le Cléac’h who now earns fourth, just 14.1 miles now to windward and ahead of Riou.
Loick Peyron is 24.4 miles ahead of Seb Josse now, who has a lead of 15.8 miles over Jean-Pierre Dick.
Mike Golding is sixth, looking to cut down the 14 miles deficit he has on Riou in fifth, while Jonny Malbon should slip over the Equator tonight on Artemis II, his first time solo into the Southern Hemisphere.
