"By the time I made it to the deep south I wanted to be within 100 miles of the leader.  I've already used up half of that and so I think it's time to get a move on.  It's a bit tricky at the moment, as the wind is still variable and I'm not completely used  to my sail plan. I'm afraid of broaching, but I must say my latest pilots are working miracles, immediately taking into account the slightest change in direction on the crest of a wave."

 

Sam Davies, Roxy: "Here is a nice picture of my lucky red socks "breathing" some fresh air under the full moon, after having been subjected to 48 hours non-stop inside ‘Le Chameau’ boots in the stormy weather!

Yes - I admit that I did not remove my boots or oilskins for 48 hours. It was too full-on to take the risk as I needed to be ready to go on deck at any moment.

So, yesterday I took advantage of the calmer, stable conditions to change socks, wash a bit, brush my hair... it was a treat! I also opened some good luck cards that people had put on board. It’s always good to boost your moral. For now, the red socks are banished to the cockpit until it rains enough for me to wash them. Seeing that I only have three pairs of red socks, I need to take care of them as I am sure I will need some luck again soon.

Yesterday evening I crossed tacks with Dee Caffari again, pretty close. We had a chat on the VHF and she told me that she has found photos hidden by her team around her boat; the Aviva boys obviously have "calendar" talent. Dee explained that the photos of them were taken nude, with strategically placed objects to hide certain areas of their bodies.

She was laughing so much, and we were both a bit sad that it wasn't daylight otherwise she would have tried to show them to me! Anyway, she promised me that she would show me after the race.

Last night I gybed to head south, and today’s strategy is to try to position myself to pass Madeira without suffering from wind-shadow.

A simple message from Jonny Malbon: "All good on board.  Suffering a little with a bad wind angle.  Will have to gybe again soon if it doesn’t improve,  Bit frustrating as I cat seem to get the boat feeling really good yet.  Would love to be closer to the action."

The Azores high (1035 hPa) is gradually moving north-eastwards and slowly subsiding, generating trade winds on the eastern edge. In the Bay of Biscay (Bernard Stamm), the 12-knot NW'ly will ease off during the day to less than ten knots. Off Portugal (Michel Desjoyeaux), the 17-22 knot N to NE'ly wind will drop to around ten knots. Around Madeira (Peyron, Dick, Josse…), the 18-23 knot E to NE'ly trade winds will be accompanied by short squalls. Around the Canaries (Boissières, Caffari…), the NE'ly wind is stronger, blowing at 22-27 knots with short squalls. This pattern of trade winds should remain in place on Friday with little change in strength or direction.

Derek Hatfield's team reported late last night:

" This morning Algimouss Spirit of Canada had a thorough going over by the technical team from Bahrain Team Pindar and a work list was constructed and then divided amongst the team to be conquered. Derek had returned with a list of things that either had been damaged or lost in the storm on Sunday and Monday. But once we boarded the boat outside the harbor last night; the list got bigger; the mainsail would not come down. After a bit of persuasion the mainsail started to come down the mast track….then the sound of ball-bearings hitting the deck, the head-car had left the mast track. Once in port, a team member went up to discover that the track had been pulled out of the mast creating damage to the carbon.

The weather system that struck the fleet has caused a lot of damage to the other boats so we are taking all precautions to make sure that we have a good going over the boat while Derek is in port. The mast has been taken from the boat and an ultrasound will be done tonight to determine the extent of the damage. The mast technicians are working through the night tonight preparing to laminate carbon. Best estimates now are that Derek will be ready to leave port on the afternoon tide on Friday. "

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) and Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) do not appear to be in for favourable weather in the coming days. For the winner of the 2001 Vendée Globe, who is sailing off Porto this morning, the northerly wind is down to 10 knots and he is going to have to wait for it to back NE'ly before it strengthens to 20 knots: the white monohull already lost thirty miles during the night and this is likely to increase to 100 miles by this evening (in relation to his 450 mile deficit when he set sail again from Les Sables d’Olonne). As for Bernard Stamm, he faces even less favourable conditions… Calm weather in the Bay of Biscay with often only just five knots of wind and rarely more than ten until Cape Finisterre! After a deficit of 940 miles on restarting from Les Sables d’Olonne this morning, he could see himself some 1500 miles behind this weekend… However, everyone, will be slowing down in the Doldrums early next week and there will fortunately for these two sailors some compression.