"Well the last 24 hours have been very full on again! I did a radio interview yesterday morning and shortly after the interview we parked up for a couple of hours, and then some huge black angry squall clouds rolled in. Very soon we had horizontal rain, and 30 knots of wind. I started with 1 reef and the jibtop, then 1 reef and the big Solent, then 2 reefs and the big Solent, then 2 reefs and the small Solent! It has been a succession of huge squall lines since the first one broke – the most powerful breeze hit about 20 mins ago recording 34 knots. I just about to go for 3 reefs and the staysail when the breeze moderated to 20 knots, so I have taken the opportunity to pound the keyboard.  Because there was so much cloud and rain last night the stars couldn’t pierce through, and that coupled with no moon = complete darkness. “As dark as the inside of a cow” is a phrase commonly used. It’s really hard to steer with no reference point or horizon, so I was overjoyed to let the pilot do the donkey work. He has done a great job all night, and I even managed to get some sleep. This much breeze has not been forecast on any of the models that I have, except as rainfall. I hope it moderates further through the day as it is pretty exhausting to say the least."  

Jonny Malbon (Artemis) in his daily blog last night.

 

"Finally, what we have been looking forward to for a week has finally happened. A lot of things have come together: the wind has shifter, so the route changes, so the sails change.  The temperature falls, the number of layers increases.  The fingers are numb.  Let's just hope the brain doesn't go the same way...We were heading south, but now we can turn to the east.  Remember Dee, it's left this time!"

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) by e-mail. 

 

Dominique Wavre (Temenos) is in 12th place 185 miles from the leader.  Like his rivals, he is busy studying the weather.
"Right now I have a really favourable breeze and I’m making 14 knots of boat speed in a fairly variable, moderate wind. There are some clouds still knocking about in this area, which are creating small unsettled patches. There is a uniformly grey sky forming a lid over the high pressure and in fact there are some unmistakable signs of this with the barometer reading 1031. The wind I have at the moment is only temporary. It will become increasingly erratic and we’ll have to mirror the shifts with the sheet trimming. The zone of high pressure is shifting eastwards and nobody is likely to come to a standstill for a long period of time. The frontrunners should be slowed a little more than us, but things aren’t likely to come to a complete halt. With my slight W’ly separation I hope I’m not going to lose too much time. It will all depend on how the zone of high pressure moves, so naturally there is a slightly random aspect to proceedings."  

Loïck Peyron (Gitana 80) in fourth place this afternoon, 7.8 miles from the leader.
"It was a lively night with the wind climbing as far as 28-30 knots… We went through the entire sail wardrobe! The seas on the nose had the biggest impact though. The wind is tending to ease but it’s still very shifty.  I’m naturally looking a little at what my friends are doing in the east but I’ve noticed too that Michel Desjoyeaux has decided to skirt right round the outside out to the west. For those to the east, it’s coherent that with their slight deficit, they’re trying to cut the corner. Sébastien and I got here too early to do that.  It’s soon going to be time to turn left. I’m looking forward to it… it’s a real motivation to tell yourself that at the end of the weekend we’ll finally be sailing downwind, under gennaker, and no longer have to sail close-hauled suffering this uncomfortable ride.”

 

The International Jury imposed a time penalty of half an hour on Great American 3 for passing a buoy on the wrong side shortly after the start of the race in Les Sables d'Olonne.   Rich Wilson carried out this penalty early this afternoon, as laid down in the Race Instructions:
"The penalised boat shall call the Race Management to agree upon a waypoint and a time where the penalty will be taken. When the boat passes the agreed waypoint in question, the skipper shall call the Race Management to confirm his/her exact position so that the penalty time can be recorded. When the penalty time has elapsed and this has been confirmed by the Race Management,the boat shall pass the same waypoint once again before continuing the race."

Raphaël Dinelli is determined to sail around the world cleanly using solar panels and a wind turbine for his source of energy.  His boat is now up and running after he had to prepare her during the race.  In his latest video he shows us his wind turbine working in its vertical position.  To see this, just click on video.