As the leaders move down from the North to the South Atlantic, they have been through a series of weather patterns, but are now finding cooler weather in the south, as Mike Golding (Ecover 3) explained this morning:  
"I had a  good night's sleep last night, so feel quite rested, eggs on toast this morning.  The sailing is not that enjoyable.  It’s extremely wet on deck and its pretty remorseless port tack and  high angles of heel but it is at least cooling down now so it’s a  little more liveable onboard – it’s changed very quickly from Biscay howling gales, then into the trades, mild and steady breeze to the Doldrums that are stinking hot with very light airs, then the south Atlantic which has been hot and breezy with trade winds, but from a rather unusual direction as we are upwind and then of course very rapidly we are descending down into the cold of the Southern Ocean.  In fact, last night I dug out my thermals for the first time since Biscay."  

You can see Mike Golding heading south in his latest video.  Just click on videos in the media section.


 

Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada) is in 24th place, 1509 miles from the leader and is just passing through the Doldrums, as he explains in a mail sent earlier this afternoon. 

"A tough 24 hours starting last night with two major black clouds in the path to the south. These are very localized conditions and can be disruptive for many hours as you get through them. Especially after dark, it is hard to tell the intensity and sometimes the wind doubles in strength. This can be boat breaking if you have a lot of sail up when it hits. The first one had torrential rains as well and caught me on deck without my wet gear on. The fresh shower was welcome but by the end of it I was freezing and unable to leave the helm. Today the wind has shifted to the south a little bit so I am upwind at 5 degrees north through the doldrums. Always an experience. Two beautiful snow white sea birds have been following me now for an hour, flying very close to the transom. I'm not sure what they are expecting but I think they will be disappointed with my leftover freeze-dried noodles and chicken.
Take care
Derek "

 

"The first part of the night was quite rough.  This morning it's a bit quieter. And it's very pleasant. The problem is to know which sails to put up, as we never know just how much wind we will be getting… It's hard to ease off, as you have to keep an eye on what is happening out on deck. We have to sort out our priorities: minor repairs, navigation, eating, sleeping.  In fact, everything needs to be done quickly.  Today, it's dried mountain ham and pasta milanese…"

Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) on today's radio session at 11h00.

 

"There's no other choice: due south it is. The seas are more pleasant than yesterday afternoon.  We always go faster, when the boat is suffering less, and on Tuesday we had 25 knots of wind coming straight at us.  Now, we're gliding along with 18-19 knots of wind under solent and full mainsail. We'll be taking the long way around the high, but we mustn't burn our wings by getting too close to its centre. I'm the furthest east, because this will make it easier to get in position in comparison to the rest of the fleet. Yesterday, it was beef bourguignon and pasta and today it's smoked salmon and couscous for dinner… " Sébastien Josse (BT) on this morning radio session.

 

Sam Davies (Roxy) on today's radio session:
"It’s kind of bumpy at the moment. The wind’s quite unstable, in the last 24 hours we’ve had everything from 6 knots of wind to 32 knots in the last squall. It’s quite a full time job on deck to trim the sails and change the sails, to keep the boat going as fast as possible.  Being chased by Foncia: I’ve been trying to go faster and faster! Mich Desj' said ‘Don’t worry Sam, I won’t give you any wind shadow, I’ll go past and leave a big gap!’ But I’ve been trying to stay in front of him for as long as possible. And I thought Last night I’d gone quite fast when I looked at the position reports I was quite proud of my average speed being nearly 14 knots, then I looked at Mich and his average was 17.6 knots and there’s just no way I can compete with that, it’s just amazing!"

 

Bernard Stamm crossed the Equator yesterday afternoon at 16h35, but did not really toast Neptune as much as he would have liked, because it was a very busy day on board Cheminées Poujoulat:
"Yesterday, there was a bit of a boatyard atmosphere aboard. The toolboxes were out to attempt a repair of the faulty desalinator. In the end I completely changed it over, so it was just as well I brought a spare. It’s heavy but when it breaks down you immediately look at the future in a very different light. I also repaired a leak in the ballast tank, which I’ll now be able to use on my current point of sail. As regards Neptune, I’ve made it up with him a little again and I even gave him a taste of the water from my new desalinator, “Château power survivor", and I promised to buy him a snifter on the climb back up. Hidden in the boat, stuck to a pipe, I’ve spotted a small bottle of pear or plum brandy”.