"I don't like being messed around with like that.  Let me explain. Yesterday was a nice day with sunshine, calm seas, the waves from behind, but not too much wind, 15-20 knots. The forecast said the wind would gradually strengthen, as the low moved in.  So when the wind arrived, we'd deal with it by lowering some sail.  Yesterday evening under spinnaker, the wind strengthened to above 20 knots.  I'm watching.  Above 24 knots.  I get ready to take down some sail.  A first gust at 27 knots.  It's already dark.  The boat is surfing at 23-24 knots.  That's done.  With a third of the moon, we can see what's going on. Clouds scudding along.  Another gust at 29 knots.  Get ready for a blow.  Final manoeuvres.  A 31-knot gust.  Usually I take down the spinnaker to be on the safe side at 25 knots at night.  So it's time to do something.  I drop the spinnaker sock.  28 metres of rope to deal with. In 30 knots.  Spinnaker down.  Stowed.  Up with the solent.  Wind 30 knots.  I tell myself I've done the right thing. I'm going back to bed. A bowl of Chinese noodles.  Wake up an hour or so later. Look at the dials.  Only 20 knots.  We're pitifully slow.  Up with the gennaker.  More quickly than I remember doing before.  The sun comes up.  In an hour it will be above thirty again. A damned awful night.  Too much caution and you lose confidence."
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia), in his daily message, written as he was 18 miles from the first Ice Gate

 

"Bahrain Team Pindar is the pied piper of the avian world today and I must have a hundred sea birds spiralling around the boat as I head eastwards, 470 miles from the ice gate, and 1300 miles from Cape Town. Perhaps they are hoping that my wake will stir up some food for them, or perhaps it's just a change of scenery from waves, waves and more waves.  There are no albatross amongst them but four very large black petrels and lots of smaller grey and white birds." 

Brian Thompson (Pindar) in his evening message

 

Today, it is the Canadian, Derek Hatfield, who has covered the greatest distance towards the finish.  Between 20h yesterday evening and this evening, he is credited with 354 miles.  Derek is now in 22nd place, 1488 miles from the leader.

 

In his latest video, Jonny Malbon (Artemis) explains the damage to his daggerboard.  A chance too to see the new-look Jonny with his beard.  Just click here to view the clip.

 

"Last night I experienced a snow squall just behind the front. There wasn’t enough to build a snowman but mid manoeuvre I could see the snowflakes falling in the light of my head torch. You can sense that the weather’s going to change thanks to the appearance of the sky. Yesterday there were some cirrus clouds really high up and today we’re surrounded by low cloud. When the lows hit in this part of the world, it’s always preceded by this type of sky. For the moment, we’re still feeling the effects of the high pressure to our left, but this will give way to a fine low. We should get a good thirty knots or so tomorrow, and that’ll be just the beginning...”
Dominique Wavre (Temenos) in 12th place this afternoon, 260 miles from the leader

 

The Ice Gates are there firstly for safety reasons: they stop the fleet from going too far south  and coming too close to the ice.  They are a sort of firewall.  To pass a gate correctly, you need to either:
- Cross at least once through the gate from south to north
- Cross at least once through the gate from north to south
- Remain on a route to the north of the gate
In short, for a valid passage, a competitor must be positioned at one moment to the north of the points of the segment comprising this gate.